Beanie Wells’ foot update [UPDATED]

OSU Football(**see below for updates to this post) It’s totally second-hand and unofficial, but supposedly, a member of the OSU medical team used the phrase “turf toe” when questioned by a reporter about Wells’ foot. The discussion occurred in the background of Jim Tressel’s after-game press conference.

Replays of Beanie’s injury certainly support the rumor, as turf toe usually occurs when a player takes off quickly (bending his toes too far back), or stops quickly (jamming his toes against the front of his shoes). Beanie appeared to do both of those things on his final run.

It’s essentially a sprain of the capsule part of the big toe’s socket. Typically, it’s an injury that a running back can play through. OSU fans should remember Lydell ‘Turf Toe’ Ross, who played through the injury for two consecutive seasons.

However, it’s extremely painful, and the pain always affects the athlete’s performance. It’s a nagging injury that never heals until the player stops running on it (usually at the end of the season).

So, IF it’s true (again, remember this is just rumor), it’s mixed news. OSU might have Beanie, but it’s possible he might not be 100% for the rest of the season.

It’s a similar situation as what occurred in 2007. Last autumn, Wells played through an early-season knee problem; then for the rest of the season, he played with a chipped bone in his foot and a sprained wrist. Tressel counseled him about the need to play through pain, and Wells responded with a fantastic year. So at least playing through pain is not uncharted territory for Beanie.

Whatever happens, OSU fans shouldn’t get too worked up. If the worst case happens, and Beanie is sidelined for most of all of the year, then both Saine and Herron are more than adequate to get the job done. Both would start at any other school, and especially with what we saw from Pryor today, the OSU running game is in good hands. Of course, Beanie is at a different level, and we want him there, but no single game or single season should be worth risking his long-term health.

UPDATE:
Kicker Ryan Pretorius, who is Beanie’s neighbor in the locker room, told a television reporter on a local Columbus late-night sports program that “[Beanie’s] fine, it’s just his big toe.” The kicker didn’t seem that concerned about it.

UPDATE #2 (el Kaiser here):
Not much of another update, but at least a little more information, via The Dispatch:

A team insider said that after immediate X-rays showed showed no broken bones, further evaluation indicated it likely was a soft-tissue injury to the forefoot. Such an injury could cause him to miss anything from just a week to the rest of the season.

Yeesh.

Comments

  1. I’m hardly an expert in sports medicine, but Beanie really seemed to exhibit the signs of a first degree turf toe. It’s typically a non-contact injury on plants and such, he goes down and grabs at his foot, and seems focused on the bottom part of it where the pain would be. He has a negative x-ray, nobody said anything about any swelling, and was able to walk without crutches. Good news is, it’s a fast recovery. Let’s hope I’m right on that guess.

  2. I am hoping for the best because Beanie is the best back college football, and replacing him will not be easy. If he can’t go, at least for a while, I would look for OSU to go with a more spread offense, not completely, but to be able to better utilize Saine and Mo Wells.

    Unfortunately, I did hear rumors of a torn tendon or ligament (probably tendon) on some radio shows last night. A lot of people said that he would not react like that to turf toe, and the fact that Beanie said that he felt a “pop” tends one to believe that it is more complicated than turf toe and is probably tendon related. I hope I am wrong because they will need him against USC.

  3. ATLBuckeye says

    “If the worst case happens, and Beanie is sidelined for most of all of the year, then both Saine and Herron are more than adequate to get the job done. ”

    I’ll co-sign this. People need not get too down. Clearly we all want Beanie on the field. But even without Wells, I still believe this team is capable of winning a National Championship. Substantially more capable with Wells in the backfield, but capable nonetheless.

  4. I will bet 10 to 1 that this is a Lisfranc injury. I had the exact same thing happen to me playing football. It is very painful and requires surgery that takes a full year to recover from.

    What Beanie has said is that he felt a pop. That pop was the ligament in his mid-foot that holds the bones in your foot together. They are going to have to put a couple of screws in his foot in order to pull the bones back together and allow the ligament to heal.

    It took me almost two years before I felt confident in making any sharp cuts following the surgery. It is sad, but Beanie’s got a long, painful road ahead of him.

  5. buckeyedude says

    I think the OSU coaches relied too much on Beanie. Ohio State is deeper than USC, on both sides of the ball and this may be a blessing in disguise.

    Absolutely I hope Beanie can play on Sept. 13th, but if he can’t, it will give so many other talented players the opportunity to step up and show what they can do!

    And USC won’t know whether to prepare for Ohio State with or without Beanie.

  6. Mark –

    >>I will bet 10 to 1 that this is a Lisfranc injury. I had the exact same thing happen to me playing football. It is very painful and requires surgery that takes a full year to recover from.<< Thanks for the first-hand insight. Were you able to walk unassisted shortly after the injury, like Wells was? Just trying to mesh the fact that he was limping around in the boot, along with what Pretorius said about it "being his big toe." Stinks that we have to speculate like this, though. My guess is that if it was minor, we would have heard something by now.

  7. @Mark – DON’T SAY THINGS LIKE THAT! I’m not listening! I can’t hear you!

    LALALA Oh say can you SEE! By the dawn’s early light! LALALALLA

  8. If I don’t hear shit by tomorrow, I’m going to be using all my resources to find out. AKA being a fanatic and calling an OSU player’s brother to get the inside track.

  9. How is OSU deeper than SC? Where? At RB? Pelase help me see what you see.

Trackbacks

  1. […] needed to ground the offense. Yet, now, we have to wait and see what the deal is with Beanie. MotSaG cites turf toe, which could either be a blessing or a curse. Depending on the severity of the sprain, a turf toe […]

  2. […] needed to ground the offense. Yet, now, we have to wait and see what the deal is with Beanie. MotSaG cites turf toe, which could either be a blessing or a curse. Depending on the severity of the sprain, a turf toe […]

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