As the local media continues to find story lines to report on, injuries are always an easy topic to report because it usually affects the quality of play on the field for that particular game and can affect the season as a whole. New Bills DE Trent Murphy is no exception. As detailed in past posts, he is coming off an ACL tear that caused him to miss the entire 2017 season. Unfortunately, Murphy has not been able to show off the talents that scored him a new contract due to a groin strain suffered a week into training camp. Today’s post will explore why Murphy is slowed with his groin and how it’ll affect him the rest of the preseason.
Previous posts have explored muscle strains including severity and general healing times. Murphy’s groin is no exception. The groin muscles are also known as adductor muscles. They attach from the pubic region of the hips and go down to the inside portion of the femur or thigh bones. These muscles allow the leg to adduct/cross midline and medially/laterally the femur rotate based on hip position. They also assist with hip flexion; all of these motions assist with running/cutting/juking motions required of football players.
We know that Murphy tore his left ACL last year and has worked steadily back into athletic shape. As for his groin injury, regrettably, I have unable to find which side of his groin he has injured as media reports do not specify. Overall, this won’t really affect recovery time but may shed light on how his body is compensating following the surgery. It’s possible that both sides are injured but we are unsure. He wasn’t able to really participate in OTA’s due to his recovery from the ACL surgery. Since then, he has been cleared for full practice but is still attempting to overcome a full year of restricted activity due to rehab. Normal population may have an ACL reconstruction and not deal with injuries with returning to sport, but as a high level athlete in the case of Murphy, small deficits can become bigger detriments as he asks the most out of his body. Despite being functionally strong enough for football, his body is still relearning the proprioceptive movements required for the position and this is most likely the reason why he is suffering other injuries because the hips/groin and ankle are having to compensate for the knee as he regains his football abilities. A quick refresher, proprioception is the ability to understand where your body is in space in relation to movement. Think of your leg like a chain in which each link is the ankle, knee, and hip. If there is a weak link in the chain, it will break. Same thing can happen in people, if one joint is injured or weak, others begin compensating and may cause further injury.
What does this mean for Murphy going forward? I believe he will eventually be able to play without restrictions by the time the regular season starts. It appears as though he initially suffered a Grade 1 strain which can take anywhere from 1-2 weeks to heal after injury, with some taking up to 3 weeks. This is supported by the fact that he first reportedly sustained the injury August 1st, which is 2 weeks ago today. As stated above, it normally takes 1-2 weeks to heal under normal circumstances. I believe Murphy felt as he was able to return to practice after a week, re-injured going full speed and will require further rest. He will probably need another 1-2 weeks max to fully recover. While teams do want their athletes to heal fully, re-injuries still occur. The big question is whether that timeline for recovery restarted or this is a minor setback. I personally believe this is a minor setback but allows other guys including DE Shaq Lawson to get more looks and earn their way onto the roster.
He will most certainly miss the Browns game, should be able to play against the Bengals game if practice goes well, and ideally have no issues and be available for the Bears game. There is a possibility this could linger all season, but considering this is the preseason, the Bills will allow for extra rest time over return to play.
I expect Murphy to start against the Ravens on opening day. I’m going to also state that this won’t be an issue that lingers all season. I also believe that Murphy may have a slow start to the season and come on later in the second half as his body re-acclimates to football. I may be totally wrong on everything as this is only speculation, but this is highly educated speculation. However, I fully believe Murphy should be ready to go soon.
Continue to check back for the latest updates on the latest injury news and updates. Follow on Twitter @BangedUpBills, on Facebook at Banged Up Bills, online at www.bangedupbills.com, and on reddit at u/BangedUpBills. As always, thank you for reading and GO BILLS!!
