By Sheila Dwyer, Shoulder1 Staff
September 28, 2001
Starting quarterback Steve McNair of the Tennessee Titans calls surgery to treat his injured shoulder a “last resort” and wants to play the rest of this season.
McNair’s throwing shoulder was classified as “bruised” after the quarterback was knocked out of the team’s season-opening game against Miami. He did not dress for last Sunday’s loss to Jacksonville.
“We’re going to try to tough the thing out this year, and hopefully during the course of the season it doesn’t flair back up,” McNair told the Associated Press. “If it does (heal), I can go into each game feeling more confident in the shoulder and be able to do the normal things I would do.
"If it flares up again, who knows? But we’re going to try to leave the surgery as the last resort right now.”
Coach Jeff Fisher commented that McNair would eventually require surgery to “give him more room in his shoulder.” McNair admitted that he has some “rough edges” that “keep banging together” that may require surgery.
Fisher said that it would be a rare occurrence for McNair to take a hit that would inflict similar shoulder damage, though McNair was injured in the first game of the season when he was tackled on a clean pass.
On Monday and Tuesday of this week, McNair tossed around footballs with a trainer. He hopes to train this week approaching the Titans’ bye week and play October 7th against the Baltimore Ravens.
McNair’s throwing shoulder was operated on last winter to treat an infection. He could not throw a ball for nearly four months after surgery and spent several weeks on antibiotics.
McNair calls this his most frustrating injury. “We’re not going to hope for the worst. We’re going to look forward to the best, and hopefully we can go out each and every week and not worry about it and not get hit on it,” he said to AP. “That’s something that’s going to be in the back of your mind, but you can’t let it bother you once you start back playing.”
McNair, the league’s top rushing quarterback since 1997, says his shoulder was frustrating him before this season’s opener.
Photo courtesy of www.nfl.com
