There is a lot of hate being spread Nate Allen's way and after 2 seasons a lot of people are saying he doesn't have what it takes to be a safety in the NFL. Jumping to this conclusion is showing a befuddling amount of short sightedness.

Nate Allen ruptured his patellar tendon in December of 2010. Up until that point a lot of people considered him a good rookie who could definitely man the Eagles FS spot for years to come.

Nate Allen returned to the Eagles line up in September of this year, 8 months after suffering his injury. Now according to http://www.sportsmd.com/Articles/id/19.aspx

...a return to athletic activities is delayed until 4-6 months after surgery based on leg strength and range of motion. The rehabilitation for chronic reconstructions is more substantial and prolonged than above.

Well with 8 months he should have been good to go but wait...the lockout prevented Allen from getting the extensive rehab procedures any other NFLer suffering this injury would have gotten during a non lockout year. Since the lockout didn't end until July of 2011, Allen was only receiving proper rehab for 2 months until he made his first appearance for the Eagles this year.

Any injury in the NFL takes time to recover from but who else of note has suffered the same type of injury as Allen and how did they perform the following season?

Ryan Clady, OT for the Broncos, suffered a partailly torn patellar tendon in April of 2010 but returned in time for the first game of the season. Going into the season he was rated as a top 5 OT but was not the same and by all accounts had a dismal year. Caddillac Williams tore his patellar tendon in September of 2007. He returned in November of 2008. He was not very good (2.4 yards per carry) but only a month later was performing well (4.3 yards per carry) before tearing his other patellar tendon. Total time to get back to normal, 1 year and 3 months. After tearing his other patellar tendon, Williams rehabbed and returned the following September. He started off like gangbusters (5.2 yds per carry) before being average for the next 2 months (3.6 and 3.3 yards per carry) and returning to normal that December (4.7 yards per carry), 1 year after his injury.

So how was Nate upon his return from injury. Less then spectacular absolutely. Allen's first 3 months of the season resulted in 33 total tackles, 1 int (returned for 13 yards) and only 2 passes defensed. However once December rolled around and we reached closer to that 1 year mark from initial injury, Nates stats jumped. Over December and the 1 game in January, Allen recorded 26 total tackles, 1 int ( returned for 31 yards) and 5 passes defensed.

See given any NFL injury the main ingredient for recovery is time. As Nate got further and further away from the initial injury his play improved. Hanging the young man after 2 seasons, one where he spent a large amount of the time at less then 100 hundred percent, is the exact kind of overreaction that makes for ridiculous conversations that get nowhere. Next year he will be fully recovered and will most likely show great improvement so lets give him anoother year as a fanbase.