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| Sports ExtraFriday, August 24, 2007 7:57 PM CDT |
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Doubts raised about status of Bears’ DT Tommie Harris
CHICAGO — Tommie Harris rolled his eyes. Convincing people that his surgically repaired left hamstring continues to heal on schedule has become as big of a chore as it is a challenge — especially since Harris has yet to play in an exhibition game. “I’m doing fine,’’ Harris said Thursday with a sigh. “There are no problems. I’ll be ready for San Diego in the season opener and I promise you that you will know I’m ready.’’ Doubts about Harris’ recovery began to build Monday night against the Colts after Harris didn’t play days after Lovie Smith indicated he would. They grew into suspicions the last couple of days as Harris avoided the cameras and Smith played coy. Asked Thursday whether Harris would take the field Saturday night against the 49ers for his first game action since last December, Smith responded in a way guaranteed to keep the outlook murky. “There’s a chance of that,’’ Smith said. There’s no chance Smith will give a straight answer on Harris’ hamstring before Saturday or next Thursday’s final exhibition game against the Browns or Super Bowl XLII for that matter. But what’s the rush anyway? Not much has changed since that rare day of candor last season when Smith assessed what the Bears defense would look like after losing Harris by saying, “Now I see us being like everyone else.’’ Trading for veteran Darwin Walker provided quality insurance because he can fill in at Harris’ “3’’ technique tackle spot where an explosive first step is necessary. Emerging second-year player Dusty Dvoracek eased some anxiety with a strong preseason. But without a healthy Harris, the Bears aren’t the same Super Bowl contenders. With Harris returning to form, they legitimately can call themselves the most complete team in the NFC. If putting off his first double-team until Sept. 9 makes Harris and the team feel better about his durability this season, then let him watch until then. Is it really worth playing Harris in August if it risks allowing the season to stretch into February? “I think because he’s been practicing he doesn’t really need to (play in an exhibition game),’’ teammate Adewale Ogunleye said. “Most guys do but an elite player like Tommie, he’s one of those guys who really doesn’t if it’s too big of a risk to play him.’’ That approach makes the most sense. Just like Harris is no ordinary player, this was no ordinary hamstring injury. It required surgery for an avulsion to reattach the torn hamstring tendon to the pelvis. Hamstring specialist Dan Cooper, the Cowboys’ team physician, performed the operation on an injury more common among water skiers than NFL players. Cooper cited privacy reasons in declining comment on Harris but cited an article in the American Journal of Sports Medicine as the best resource about the recovery time of partial or complete hamstring avulsions. Of 12 patients in a study by Duke University, only seven returned to most of their pre-injury sports, “albeit at a lower level,’’ and the longest recovery time was 18 months. Getting back on the field in June for organized team activities—seven months later—indeed seemed quick and rare. Harris often refers to the example of Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis when discussing why he will be the same player he was before the injury. Lewis underwent similar hamstring reattachment surgery in December 2005 and returned last season good enough to make the Pro Bowl and finish fifth in the Defensive Player of the Year voting. But rarely does anybody mention examples such as the one of John Jurkovic, a sports-talk host on WMVP-AM 1000 whose nine-year NFL career ended after suffering the same injury as Harris. Jurkovic, who tore his hamstring in 1999 playing for the Browns at the age of 32, called it “the most pain I ever experienced.’’ “Tommie’s younger than I was (but) I just hope the high-water mark for him wasn’t the first six weeks of last year,’’ Jurkovic said. To make his point, he mentioned Mark D’Onofrio and two other ex-teammates whose careers also were ended by similar hamstring tears. “(Harris) will be able to run like before,’’ Jurkovic said. “But will he be able to take on the double-team and the weight load of playing defensive tackle?’’ Jurkovic paused. “Then there’s the psychological issue,’’ he said. This was not a sports-talk show host trying to be provocative. This was an ex-NFL defensive tackle acknowledging the doubt he once felt about surviving life in the trenches even after successful rehab, doubts he thinks it would be natural for Harris to have. “They’re going to be there,’’ Jurkovic predicted. Will they? “Not really, because I’ve already seen myself at 100 percent in practice,’’ Harris said. “If I was playing (in games) the same way I’ve been feeling, I still feel dominant ... I already know what it feels like to be my original self.’’ More amused than annoyed, Harris understands the curiosity about his injury until he actually resembles his original self on the field during a game. But he says he wants Bears fans to know he has it from a higher authority that his repaired hamstring will allow him to return to Pro Bowl form—and he isn’t talking about the team doctor. “The thing about this injury is that it’s going to show everybody that there is a God,’’ Harris said. “I’m believing in Him and that’s all I have. You’ll be seeing that against San Diego.’’ For the good of Harris and the Bears season, that would be soon enough. (c) 2007, Chicago Tribune. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. 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yes wrote on Aug 24, 2007 1:50 PM:
Going on... wrote on Aug 24, 2007 12:48 PM:
Urlacher #1 wrote on Aug 24, 2007 12:34 PM:
To:RE:To:um wrote on Aug 24, 2007 11:25 AM:
Team Sport wrote on Aug 24, 2007 11:05 AM:
Re: To:Um wrote on Aug 24, 2007 10:29 AM:
TO: Um wrote on Aug 24, 2007 9:19 AM:
Um... wrote on Aug 24, 2007 7:27 AM:
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