Terrell Thomas approached Tom Coughlin after practice yesterday to say his surgically-repaired, encased-in-ice right knee was fine.
Unfortunately, his initial diagnosis was incorrect.
Terrell Thomas underwent an MRI and examination by team physician Dr. Russell Warren at Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan today. The MRI revealed that Thomas suffered an injury to the right knee involving the ACL.
"Terrell re-injured his ACL,” said Giants senior vice president of medical services Ronnie Barnes. “At this point, he will most likely undergo an arthroscopic procedure to determine the extent of the injury to the ACL. However, no decision has been made at this point. Terrell is going to consult with Dr. (Arthur) Ting, who performed an allograft reconstruction of the ACL in September.”
Thomas re-injured his knee in practice yesterday. The knee swelled up overnight and this morning he was driven to Manhattan for an examination. Coughlin didn’t have the results when he spoke to the media after the team’s workout today, but there was no masking his concern when he was asked if there was “anything new’ regarding Thomas.
“Unfortunately, there is,” Coughlin said. “He came in this morning with a swollen knee, went down to HSS. … He walked up to me after practice, he thought he felt good. He didn’t really seem to have any issues and then this morning, when he came back and he was swollen, so they sent him to HSS …”
Thomas and everyone on the Giants hoped his knee problems were history. The five-year veteran missed the entire 2011 season after tearing his right ACL in a preseason victory over Chicago on August 22 – the same injury he suffered at the University of Southern California in 2005. Dr. Ting repaired the ligament a month later in San Francisco.
Thomas worked tirelessly for almost a year so he would be ready for training camp at the University at Albany and the upcoming season. He said his knee felt good and after missing the first practice with a stiff back, moved right into the lineup as the starter at right corner.
But he left practice early yesterday and his knee was immediately iced. “He walked up to me and said, ‘I slipped,’” Coughlin said.