Gilroy
– The injury that knocked Detroit Lions backup quarterback Jeff
Garcia out of his team’s final preseason game in Buffalo isn’t as
serious as the former Gilroy High star feared, Garcia’s father
Bobby Garcia said Tuesday night.
Gilroy – The injury that knocked Detroit Lions backup quarterback Jeff Garcia out of his team’s final preseason game in Buffalo isn’t as serious as the former Gilroy High star feared, Garcia’s father Bobby Garcia said Tuesday night.
“Jeff got some good news today,” Bobby Garcia said, explaining that while team doctors had originally speculated that his son had torn ligaments in his ankle, an injury that might have required a metal pin to be surgically inserted and could have taken months to rehabilitate, a specialist in South Carolina had found no such damage.
Garcia broke his fibula in Friday night’s final preseason game between the Lions and the Buffalo Bills when he was hit across the neck by the Bills’ Terrence McGee at the end of a 23-yard run. Though Garcia was beginning to slide, an action quarterbacks can take to avoid being hit according to NFL rules, McGee hit the Gilroy native in the neck and Garcia caught his left foot on the turf awkwardly.
“Jeff said he didn’t even see the guy coming,” Bobby Garcia said.
Garcia was also hurt in Buffalo last season, when he suffered a season-ending knee injury while with the Cleveland Browns.
According to Bobby Garcia, his son will now be in a cast for about two weeks, after which he will begin to rehab his left leg.
“He’ll be on crutches and then he’ll be able to run in about five weeks, the doctor said,” Bobby Garcia said.
“He should be back in about six to seven weeks.”
More good news for Garcia is that the Lions kept the quarterback on their active roster for the season. Had Detroit placed him on injured reserve at Saturday’s deadline, he would have been unavailable to suit up for the team this year.
Garcia will remain very much a part of team during his rehab, Bobby Garcia said.
“He’ll be rehabbing, sitting through team meetings and be on the sidelines at games,” the former Gavilan football coach said.
