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Wednesday, Raiders head coach Dennis Allen announced that left tackle Jared Veldheer had a torn triceps muscle and the plan was to place him on injured reserve come the start of the season.
"Jared Veldheer, he's got a torn triceps," said Allen. "We're going to do the surgery on Jared Veldheer, and he'll be a candidate for the I.R. with the potential to return. So, I'll have more information on that probably later, but that's kind of the direction we're headed right now."
With most triceps tears, missing just part of a season would be quite optimistic. If it is a full tear, an entire year of recovery is expected following surgery. Last season, Ray Lewis shocked everyone by returning after 10 weeks to return for the Raven's playoff run. Granted linebackers' duties are far less demanding on a triceps injury than left tackle. Nothing a good brace can't cure. But an offensive tackle muscle put strain on his triceps on every single play. It must be at full health.
Then Adam Schefter put out a couple of tweets that got Raiders fans optimistic Veldheer may not be lost for even half the season.
Raiders LT Jared Veldheer has only partially torn left triceps; doctors believe he will be available for much of season, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 14, 2013
Raiders LT Jared Veldheer's injury is considered a lesser version of what Ray Lewis and Justin Smith dealt with last year.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 14, 2013
Saying "much of the season" is far from definitive. Many people read that as meaning "most of the season" but that's not necessarily what it means. If Veldheer goes on partial season IR, he would come back after week 8 which is the November 3 home game against the Eagles. He would then be available for the final 9 games which is "much of the season", as opposed to the possible prognosis of a full year of recovery with a full tear.
Then again, if you consider that we aren't even into the second week of the preseason, and the start of the regular season is a good three weeks away. If he starts his rehab now, and the injury isn't as bad as previously suspected, who knows? If the team thinks he could be back in much less time, they may just keep him on the active roster and make him inactive for the first few games until he is healthy.
Also understand that is a risk. Veldheer would take up a valuable roster spot standing on the sideline. All on the hope he will recover from the injury quickly. Which he may not. Or it could end up only being one game difference which would be debatable if that were worth it.
The team will have the next three weeks to get a better idea of the severity of the injury and how Veldheer is healing from it. Schefter's tweets offer nothing definitive so I wouldn't get your hopes too high.
No sooner did I post this but there was an update from Schefter:
Type of surgery Raiders LT Jared Veldheer is having Friday has three-month recovery period. Problem at LT for OAK.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 15, 2013
Anyone still wondering why we (the local media) were not all over his initial tweets? "Much of the season" don't mean much. He will be put on partial season IR. That's that.
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