The Kansas City Chiefs recently confirmed that running back Jamaal Charles had undergone a second arthroscopic surgery for his left knee earlier this week, which was the same procedure done on his right knee before he was placed in injured reserve. Sources believe that this second procedure can actually increase his chance of returning to the field this season.
Charles suffered a torn ACL last season during a match against the Chicago Bears. Although he was still able to play this year, he never fully recovered from his previous injury.
Right before Week 8, his condition got aggravated, which prompted him to undergo surgery in October for his right knee to trim the meniscus. Since then, he has been on the team's injured reserve list.
Although it would seem that Charles might not be able to return for the rest of the season, Ian Rapoport of NFL Insider believes he will still be able to play with the Chiefs before the year ends. That's because he recently got a second surgery for his left knee. As noted by Rapoport, this procedure could help speed up his recovery.
"From what I understand, this increases the chances of him being back for the playoffs or maybe real late December," he said during an interview with "Up to the Minute Now."
"If he did not have the second surgery on his other knee, he would not be able to be back at all," he added. "This basically is Jamaal Charles just checking off one problem, checking off another problem. This increases the chances of him being healthy again when the Chiefs might actually need him the most."
As for the rest of the Chiefs, the team has not yet released an updated timetable for Charles' return and it is not yet clear when he will be activated. Of course, this will probably not happen soon especially since Charles will still have to undergo rehab.
"The rehab is the same, we anticipate recovery will be fine, but we'll see how it goes," Rick Burkolder, the trainer for the Chiefs said in a statement.
