Chances Rex plays this weekend

[NebraskaHarry]

Burkhead will most definitely be on that plane to LA. He will most definitely suit up for the game... But will he play. That's another story. Depends on how the game goes.

[C N Red]

Definitely should suit up. If it ends up being a close and tough game i really believe he can play. Ive had the same injury. Suit him up and if you need him he's there, if not great.

[BIGREDIOWAN]

He needs to sit the next three games IMO. We don't need him for non-conference, but we'll need him for conference play. If he does play UCLA.....you'll be eating those "decent back" comments. If you are trolling....move on or we'll move you along. Everyone needs to take it easy with the name calling.

[walksalone]

He needs to sit the next three games IMO. We don't need him for non-conference, but we'll need him for conference play. If he does play UCLA.....you'll be eating those "decent back" comments. If you are trolling....move on or we'll move you along. Everyone needs to take it easy with the name calling.

 

Exactly what I said...

 

I get a kick out of how Rex is essentially a "mediocre" back, when UCLA would sell their own grandmothers to have our #2 or #3 back...

[RedRedJarvisRedwine]

I'll take a so called "decent" back like Rex with all the other things he brings to our team over any back UCLA has had in like oh I don't know, forever!

[Enhance]

I agree with the "sit him" crowd. Makes absolutely no sense to take one of our best offensive weapons and put him in a position to maintain a nagging injury, when we are more than capable of getting through September without him.

 

Burkhead's passion to play is second to none as we've heard countless times. But sometimes you have to put the good of the team ahead of your will. Sit down, rest up, and you'll be glad you did.

[MLB 51]

My theory is it's all a sham and Rex is in Bo's Doghouse.

 

Now that's funny.

I thought Bo was a cat man.

[MLB 51]

I agree with the "sit him" crowd. Makes absolutely no sense to take one of our best offensive weapons and put him in a position to maintain a nagging injury, when we are more than capable of getting through September without him.

 

Burkhead's passion to play is second to none as we've heard countless times. But sometimes you have to put the good of the team ahead of your will. Sit down, rest up, and you'll be glad you did.

I agree. Excellent observation.

[Fuzzy]

30%. No need to rush him on to the field and possibly have a worse injury later down the line.

[girlknowsfootball]

A Grade 1 MCL Sprain usually takes 4-6 weeks to heal. If the athlete is rushed back, they will not have full lateral movement/quickness and if there is a partial tear (less than 10%) then moving on it early risks spraining it further and thus tearing it. This is NOT an injury you want to rush, take it from a person who works in hospitals every day and sees these injuries all the time. With a mild Grade 1 he will be able to stand on it fine with no pain, there won't be any swelling, and he might even be able to jog pain free. Where this injury hampers him is his change of direction and speed on the field.

 

Here's how Rex's rehab will play out:

 

Week 1 - make sure the leg can extend fully and bend to 90 degrees. Once this is accomplished Rex can begin pain free stretching for his quads and hamstrings as well as flexion and extension mobility exercises. He will also work on static strengthening exercises and will get a lot of work in on the Bike to maintain his cardio. He will also undergo cold therapy and will get pool work in like you are hearing about. All this will test his MCL to see how much of his ability is hampered right now.

 

Week 2 - he will most likely make some big gains on strengthening exercises and will return to jogging. He will do some dynamic strengthening like half squats, calf raises, hip raises, etc. He most likely won't be doing any change of direction exercises next week, as his muscle won't be fully recovered yet.

 

Week 3-4 - During week's 3 and possibly 4, depending on how he does, He will increase his leg strength to equal his healthy leg with a variety of leg strengthening exercises. He will do some sideways/backwards running and change of direction drills and could be about 90%. If he has full speed/power back on his football specific sports training and change of direction after week 3-4 then he will be ready to be back in practice. If he shows some set back on sport specific drills, change of direction drills, etc, then he will need an additional week or two to get that back.

 

Sometimes it can take up to 7 weeks before the athlete returns to 100%. So Rex most likely won't be back until AT LEAST the Idaho State game... but most likely it will be the Wisconsin game.

[HuskerShark]

I was watching BTN last night and the guys on that show were talking about Rex's injury. The one guy said that a 1st degree sprain only requires a knee brace and he would be able to play if he and the coaches made that choice. I trust the coaches and trainers to make the right decision on when to play him and how much. If he is able to play at full speed, I would actually like to see him in for the first couple of series this weekend then let AA, Braylon, and Imani take it from there. If he is held out, I'm fine with that too.

[Moiraine]

I'm going to say I don't trust the coaches and trainers to make the right decision on this. Not because they don't know what they're doing, but because it's Rex. He played injured during a game last year when he didn't need to and it seemed after the game that the coaches didn't realize how bad it was because he told them he was fine.

 

I'm worried he'll tell them he's fine again and they'll take his word for it. IMO they need to take the decision completely out of his hands and not let him suit up in pads. It's a great quality in him that makes him want to play hurt but it's also a dangerous one.

[Blackshirt96]

no way he'll play...why risk it? we'll be fine without him the next few weeks and will need him when WI comes to town

 

Why risk it? Because if NU seriously wants Rex to have a legitimate shot the Heisman then he'll need to be a dominant force in every single big game moment.

 

The 50+ yard TD run against Southern Miss was a good start. But he needs consistent, big time performances against marquee teams to have a real shot at winning the Heisman.

 

F***. THE. F***ING. HEISMAN.

 

Seriously. This damn heisman talk reminds me of the B1G schools obsessing over the Rose Bowl. National Championship game? No thanks, we want to play in the Rose Bowl! The mere fact that anyone thinks that over-hyped individual award is so important that it's worth risking further injury to a player NU definitely needs to be healthy to help his team is just mind-blowing.

 

I'm not just focusing this on you, 'skers. I'm not guilty on hyping this up, but I still contribute posts that no doubt feed the beast that is 'living in the world of astronomical expectations.' This is just becoming an epidemic upon Husker fans. We hear about how the team is playing for each other, but then the fans and media want to individualize them. Rex goes down? No problem! Taylor Martinez for heisman! Who will it be next week? Who can we distract and heap a ton of pressure on next? Geez, it's no wonder players and coaches stay away from message boards and newspapers. If I was them, I'd want to blow my brains out after reading the stuff that's out there.

Agreed the Hiesman is great and all, but I see Rex more worried about a Big Ten Championship. I don't expect to see him until Sept 29th when we play the Badgers. If he progress faster maybe you will see him in some light duty stuff in the Idaho St game, but it would only be to nock the dust off before the Wisconsin game.

[307husker]

Exactly how can they take the decision out of his hands? Part of any injury evaluation is the subjective complaint, IOW, how the knee feels. No testing can objectively show the pain, or its absence.

 

I suppose that they could rest him 4-6 weeks as a precaution...

 

Without having any information on exactly what did happen, all of this is just wild guessing. The terms "sprain" and "strain" are used improperly all the time so take them with the appropriate grain of salt.

[BigRedBuster]

I'm going to say I don't trust the coaches and trainers to make the right decision on this. Not because they don't know what they're doing, but because it's Rex. He played injured during a game last year when he didn't need to and it seemed after the game that the coaches didn't realize how bad it was because he told them he was fine.

 

I'm worried he'll tell them he's fine again and they'll take his word for it. IMO they need to take the decision completely out of his hands and not let him suit up in pads. It's a great quality in him that makes him want to play hurt but it's also a dangerous one.

 

Let's see....

 

A player tells the staff he is fine and no problems. He plays and is more injured than what he told them and you don't trust the staff?

 

Last Saturday, he had an MRI before the game was even over. I think even before half time. The staff knows everything there is about his knee and can make a decision.

 

BUT, if the player hides an injury or how much it hurts from the staff.....it's pretty hard to blame the staff.