RB Ahmad Bradshaw, who visited noted foot specialist Dr. Robert Anderson in Charlotte, NC, disclosed that he has a cracked bone in the fifth metatarsal of his right foot.
Bradshaw said he first thought something might be wrong when he discovered a small bruise on the outside of his foot.
“When we started looking at it, we took a couple of X-rays maybe a month ago and we saw it.”
Bradshaw said the discomfort hasn’t been too bad. “When the game is going on, I can’t feel it. A lot of adrenaline is pumping.”
When asked if he thought the injury was made worse by his running style. “I think that’s the reason it’s broken, because I run on the outside of my feet. I’m bow-legged so I guess that caused the break even more.”
Bradshaw knows that there is a risk that the crack could result in the bone breaking all the way, which would end his season, but he’s willing to take that chance.
“I just plan on going out there and giving my all. If it breaks, I’ll get surgery. If not, then I’ll wait till the end of the season and hope that I don’t need surgery. But more than likely, I’ll need surgery.”
The crack is actually one of two injuries Bradshaw has in his right foot. The other is the result of a broken ankle he suffered in college that never healed properly. “The ankle was never really taken care of,” he said. “I have a couple of bone spurs and loose bodies in there. It’s a lot of pain, but other than that, it didn’t slow me down.”
According to head coach Tom Coughlin, the Giants will stay the present course with their management of Bradshaw’s injury. The third-year running back has been kept out of practices on Wednesday and Thursdays, and has taken limited snaps on Fridays which has enabled him to play on Sundays.
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DT Chris Canty and LB Michael Boley continue to make progress in their individual quests back from surgery. Canty did some additional work in individual drills while Boley put on the shells and did individual drills for the first time since his knee surgery on October 6.
“The progress is good,” Boley reported. “Just going by what the doctors say, it’s right on schedule. It’s one of those things where you have to get the muscle and range of motion back before you can do anything. I’m just coming in, doing what the doctors tell me, and taking it a day at a time so I don’t have any setbacks. “
Boley is itching to get back to the playing field, especially after he seemed to be on his way back in September after making a recovery from off-season hip surgery. He played one game, against Kansas City, but then his knee stiffened up on him during the team’s charter flight home. The next day Boley learned that he had a partially torn meniscus which was operated on and he’s been sidelined since.
“It was different missing the first part of the season and then coming back and having the miss the next few weeks. It was kind of a transition again. Here I am coming back out, putting the pads on, trying to get a feel for the game again.”
Boley, who was given a timetable of four weeks following his surgery, said he’s counting down the days. “Being away from the game is tough, especially after I got the chance to get back in there. I felt like I was starting to get back into a groove.”
Boley wouldn’t commit to when he might be back in the lineup. The original four-week would put him on track to be ready for next week’s game against San Diego, but there is a good chance that he might take advantage of the bye week the week after to get some additional rest. “We’ll have to see. It’s a work in progress. All we can do is keep pushing hard, keep doing treatment and studying film and doing anything I can to help out the guys.
“When I’m ready, I’ll be back.”
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LB Antonio Pierce, who missed yesterday’s practice with an ankle injury, was back practicing today. Also back in action was CB Kevin Dockery, who missed Wednesday’s practice due to personal reasons.
