Von Miller's Ankle Injury Might Not be Season-Ending, per Report
On Tuesday afternoon, Broncos Country and the NFL world were delivered a massive blow as reports coming from Dove Valley indicated that Von Miller had suffered a potentially season-ending ankle injury on the last play of practice.
With an MRI already undergone and a second opinion with ankle specialist Dr. Robert Anderson scheduled in Green Bay on Thursday, the outlook and prognosis for Miller and the Broncos was bleak.
That was until early this morning. And at least for now.
According to the hypothesis of Dr. David Chao of Outkick, there is a possibility that Miller's injury isn' season-ending.
The immediate fear is Achilles tendon rupture but that does not seem to be the case. Fitting with the reports of no tendon tear at all and given his position and how it occurred, I believe Miller suffered a subluxation/dislocation injury to his peroneal tendons. This is much better news than if his Achilles were torn. There is precedent for same season return if this is the case. All of the reports indicate a tendon injury but no reference to a tear which supports my hypothesis.
Based on his professional opinion and reports that there is not an actual tear of any tendons, Chao believes that Miller suffered a subluxation/dislocation of his peroneal tendons, an injury that does still require surgery but would not end Miller's 2020 campaign as originally feared.
Citing an injury to former San Diego Charger Luis Castillo (who gave Chao permission to disclose his actual injury), there is high optimism that Miller could return depending on the veracity of this hypothesis. Castillo missed seven games following his Week 9 corrective surgery back in 2007 and returned to play in all three of the Chargers' postseason games.
With all this bad news, I strongly believe there is hope and precedent for a return in the latter half of this season for Miller. When he does, he may not be as effective flipping sides but depending on which ankle was injured, he should be quite effective rushing on the opposite side of his injury. Fingers crossed that the reports of season-ending are premature and all is not lost for Miller in this Broncos campaign.
With Miller potentially suffering this same style of injury at the onset of the season, a two-to-three month recovery time would place Miller back on the roster for the last quarter of the season and a potential run at the playoffs, should Jeremiah Attaochu and Malik Reed be able to fill the void as well as cover for a still-recovering Bradley Chubb, who is going to be on an early-season pitch count.
Take a deep breath, Broncos Country, and hold it as long as you can. It might result in a massive sigh of relief in the next 24-48 hours.
Follow Lance on Twitter @SandersonMHH and @MileHighHuddle.
