Jared Allen Will Have First Surgery of Career

Jared Allen was a player that came under some criticism in 2012, even though he made the fifth Pro Bowl of his career. It was a down year by Allen’s standards, but we all know those standards are very high. In Allen’s case, almost unfairly high.

The defensive end recorded 12 sacks and 45 tackles in 2012. Again, not up to Allen standards, but still a very good year. However, news has emerged that may shed some light on why Allen had a down year. Apparently he played the entire season with a torn labrum in his left shoulder.

If the injury sounds familiar, it’s because Dwight Howard is currently suffering from the same thing. Personally, I had no idea what the labrum was, or what it does in the shoulder. Here’s an explanation from orthopedics.about.com:

‘To compensate for the shallow socket, the shoulder joint has a cuff of cartilage called a labrum that forms a cup for the end of the arm bone (humerus) to move within. The labrum circles the shallow shoulder socket (the glenoid) to make the socket deeper. This cuff of cartilage makes the shoulder joint much more stable, and allows for a very wide range of movements.’

So in Allen’s case, he has completely torn this cartilage, which is causing him pain and limiting the range of motion in the arm. Certainly not ideal for someone in Allen’s position.

Overall this is not that big of deal in terms of recovery time, which is estimated to be a couple of months at most. Allen will be more than ready to go for training camp, and hopefully he’ll be back at 100% for the entire 2013 season.

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