Latest on Parker’s Refurbished Foot

Jimmy Bourbon

9 years ago

The Dolphins streak of good luck, unfortunately, ended last week when it was released that first-round pick DeVante Parker underwent foot surgery to replace a screw inserted last year to repair the broken fifth metatarsal. It was mainly done as a precaution because Parker felt some pain in his foot last Thursday, and after talking it over with the team and his agent, everyone felt it was best to look at the long term picture and have him undergo surgery now.

Optimistically Parker should recover in 8 weeks, however, it has not been made public if Parker also had a bone graft done as well, which replaces missing bone in order to repair a fracture. When a person replaces a previous screw with a larger screw, it is extremely common that a bone graft is also done. This is noteworthy, because if a bone graft was done, then this delays the recovery time to an average of 12.3 weeks, with a range of 6 to 16 weeks. If that is the case, 12 weeks would mean that Parker would be fully healed by the week of the first game against Washington.

Barring any setbacks Parker will most likely be healthy for the season, however, he will definitely lose valuable practice time. For a rookie, every practice is crucial because everything is new and the learning curve is much steeper compared to other non-rookies on the team. In addition, Parker plays a position where there are a lot of moving parts and it is key for him and the QB to develop chemistry. Luckily for the Dolphins, Parker was playing very well during practices, so it should only be a small hiccup in his progression.

In addition, this set back with Parker will open the door for players like Stills, Matthews, and Hazel to get more reps in practice and help their case for more playing time. Matthews who many pay per head services sites like www.AcePerHead.com felt would be traded, is now a direct benefactor of Parker’s injury and he has been making the most of it in each of the OTA practices, by catching everything thrown his way and making plays. Clearly, it is not a good thing that Parker will miss time, but at least the Phins have very strong depth at the receiver position, and this will give other players on the roster the chance to shine and be productive.

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