Cornelius Ingram's re-injury of his torn ACL came as no surprise to many league officials. Should the Eagles have known that he was destined to shred the knee again?
"Our doctors didn't like it. We took him off our board," one NFL personnel official told Les Bowen of the Daily News. "Our doctors said [Ingram] wouldn't be able to play until at least November, and that if he tried to play before that, he'd probably tear it again."
Sources told Bowen that that is the main reason the Eagles were able to get such a talented player in the fifth round. Everyone knew that he slipped because of the ACL injury, but it seems like some teams took him off their board completely because they felt that his initial surgery wasn't done properly.
This time, it seems it's surely to be done properly. He took a visit down to Alabama to have his latest surgery done by Dr. James Andrews. The first repair job was done by Peter Indelicato, the surgeon for the University of Florida.
"We feel confident in the quality of medical care we provide the student-athletes at the University of Florida," Indelicato said in defense of himself. "We are not going to discuss the private medical records of Cornelius Ingram."
NFL draft expert Mike Mayock said he spoke to a few teams that were terrified of Ingram.
"Several teams told me point-blank that the knee would tear again, and that it was just a matter of time . . . the issue was the initial repair [from] a year ago," Mayock said.
But the Eagles didn't have any problem with the initial repair job. Is this an issue? Why did some teams know Ingram's knee wouldn't hold up and the Eagles didn't? Either way, it's irrelevant now. Especially since Dr. James Andrews will certainly do a good job this time.
