Can Broncos’ P.J. Locke make successful return from spinal fusion? Experts expect him to ‘do well’

The medicinal self-described miracle that helped save Broncos safety P J Locke s career didn t exist a inadequate years ago Even three states away at the Cedars-Sanai Biological Center in Los Angeles Dr Neel Anand knows Locke and his event He knows Locke s surgeon Dr Chad Prusmack who has long served as a neurological consultant for the Denver Broncos The spinal society is plenty small across the country And Anand knows Locke who came into Prusmack s office Jan for an MRI after a season of quiet pain absolutely needed spinal-fusion surgery When Locke suddenly dropped a YouTube video at the start of July that tracked his last limited months rehabbing from that spinal surgery his own channel expressed chosen doubt at his likely return There were no guarantees that PJ would return to play football ever again the video s description reads And the term spinal fusion naturally sounds a blaring alarm at any athlete s chances of recapturing full previous mobility Take it from the Detroit Lions Levi Onwuzurike who laid out his return from a spinal-fusion procedure in a first-person essay a couple of years ago There are not a lot of guys who get this surgery and are able to come back to football Onwuzurike wrote I had coaches tell me they had friends get this exact surgery and not be able to return to the championship As Denver s training camp has kicked off this week though Locke was back and backpedaling through band periods without any sign of a slip Roughly six months since Prusmack had repaired his spine That s in large part a credit to how Locke s attacked rehab Anand affirmed He s a grinder who s grown from an undrafted free agent with barren pockets to a crucial part of Denver s secondary But Locke s recovery is also the upshot of a health advancement that Anand wants to show the population That spinal fusion does not require as brutal a rehabilitation as previously thought He s really done very well during that process and it s a taboo that s out there that you can t come back from spinal fusion disclosed Anand the director of the Spine Center at Cedars-Sinai I disagree Across the last years surgeons have become more conscious of how to conserve spinal angulation and natural motion as California neurosurgeon Dr Jason Liauw noted In the present day Anand explained all spinal surgery is done with minimal invasiveness Previously surgeons would have to strip a individual s surrounding muscles to correct any herniation or fracture in the spine That would ve been a game-changer for Locke Anand reported Instead in modern times the Broncos safety was able to begin sequential rehab just a scant weeks after the procedure Elite athletes are totally different beasts than compared to the regular the normal person getting a spinal fusion Liauw reported Athletes have a lot of muscular backing and ligamentous patronage a lot of times they can indeed recover because they have so much like supportive structure around their spine Related Articles Broncos camp overview Pat Bryant young receivers grab attention as competition for roles ramps up Led by more vocal Jonathon Cooper Broncos pass-rush aims to be bulk dominant unit in NFL Broncos RT Mike McGlinchey leaves practice ahead of first open training camp date Safeties Talanoa Hufanga Brandon Jones already building rapport in Broncos secondary Broncos Bo Nix lands at No on player-voted NFL s Top ahead of Dak Prescott Sam Darnold Locke is now healthy as Broncos head coach Sean Payton put it completely this week And after evolving from a practice-squad dangler to special-teams safety to an irreplaceable piece of Denver s secondary in the Broncos need Locke to contribute again this season Free-agent signee Talanoa Hufanga who will likely take Locke s starting spot has played a total of games the past two seasons and is injury-prone by sheer definition And there s little proven depth in the room behind Locke The only real concern in recovery Liauw announced was to keep a strong core to not put as much stress on individual levels of the spine But the pitfall of injury Anand mentioned won t be any different for Locke than it is for anyone else in a Broncos uniform Is this unexpected Anand announced of Locke s recovery No no no I expect him to play And I expect him to do well Want more Broncos news Sign up for the Broncos Insider to get all our NFL analysis