At some point later this afternoon news started to flurry around about the severity of Pro Bowl G Shawn Andrews' ankle injury. The official word from the Eagles is that it's a sprain and he's "day to day"
That's the official word...
Andrew's own quote seem to suggest otherwise.
"I don't know what to think right now," Andrews said. "Just rehabbing, trying to rest it, stay off of it."
Andrews called his discussion with a specialist a "tear-jerker."
"I don't know what the future holds," he said.
Certainly the part of the story that makes you sit up is how he describes his discussion with the specialist. "Tear jerking" news is rarely good news. Andrews was later asked if he would be ready for the season opener and he couldn't say.
Radio and websites have apparently run with story and in some cases have completely misquoted the original article. ProFootballTalk.com may be the worst offender. In their post about the story they say "There are also suggestions that the injury might be career-threatening." and they link the term "career threatening" to the comcast sportsnet article which simply says this,
So being asked if his injury could need surgery or be career threatening turned into "suggestions" that it could be. That's just a poor job. The fact is that no one knows what's up right now. The only reason all this speculation started was the rather cryptic line Andrews gave about his meeting with a specialist. At this point no one has any actual information about the injury. All we have the team's official report. Which is that he's day to day with an ankle sprain. In fact, Andy released a statement saying he was making progress on the ankle. That statement might even be buoyed by the report that while he was still wearing a boot he was no longer walking with crutches. Now, I'm certainly not telling you to trust the Eagles here since we know that they basically tell the world what they want it to hear whether it's really the truth or not. However, it's hard to see what they'd have to gain by hiding an injury. Outside of maybe trying to work a trade for a replacement, which I doubt they'd do considering all of the young depth they have at the position, I don't quite get what the motivation would be.
I think one way or the other the Eagles are going to address this very soon, if not tomorrow. It's going to be the first question anyone remotely affiliated with the team is asked. Obviously, I don't need to tell you how bad losing Andrews for any significant amount of time, let alone the whole season would be. The guy is already being called the best guard in the NFL by many, he's part of the backbone of the team and one of the handful of guys that you just don't want to lose.
This is one story I'll definitely have my eye on.