Schwartz: Pettigrew's ACL injury 'doesn't affect his long-term potential'
Jim Schwartz calls it a bump in the road. But it's a long road back for any athlete -- let alone an NFL tight end -- from a torn ACL, the injury rookie first-round pick Brandon Pettigrew suffered in the Thanksgiving loss to Green Bay. Pettigrew's left knee buckled as he scrambled back to try to make a block on the Lions' first possession, and the MRI revealed the bad news the next day.
Making it more painful, though, is the fact that Pettigrew appeared to be just hitting his stride. In his three previous games, the 6-6, 260-pound rookie had 15 catches for 165 yards and two touchdowns. For the seaosn, he had 30 catches for 346 yards -- totals that match or surpass the rookie outputs of today's elite TEs: Jason Witten, Tony Gonzalez, Antonio Gates and Dallas Clark.
"I think he was well on his way to an outstanding rookie year," Schwartz said. "He had a few bumps along the way. But he was on his way to being the playmaker we envisioned and being the blocker that we envisioned, and I think he still will be. This doesn't affect his long-term potential. It's not a detour as much as it is just a bump in the road for him."
Added Schwartz: "That was something where you look and say over the last five games ... and really, for him, it was the last six games ... that was really something that was starting to take off. And he was a major part of that game plan on Thursday. The coverage that Green Bay plays -- it's designed to take the outside receivers out and your tight end, your slot receiver, your running back, play crucial roles in that -- and Brandon had a catch early. The play that he got hurt on was a (tight end screen) play that was schemed for him. So it's disappointing where he is."
Still, while the recovery after surgery -- it'll likely get scheduled next week -- typically is 8-10 months for an injury like this, Schwartz isn't ready to write off an entire offseason for Pettigrew just yet.
"I think the one thing that's optimistic about it is that doctors and trainers know how to handle ACLs and guys have proven that they can come back and they can come back and compete at a pretty high level," Schwartz said. "I've seen guys; I literally had a player 7-8 years ago that doctors said, 'We won't have him back, he'll start the season on PUP'; 'This may be a career-ending injury.' He made it to June OTAs and mini-camp, never missed a rep in training camp, practiced two-a-days, never missed a rep during the season. Everybody's a little bit different, so I don't want to put a timetable on it."
