San Diego Chargers running back Brandon Oliver suffered a nasty rupture of his Achilles tendon during Sunday’s preseason game against the Minnesota Vikings.
Oliver suffered the injury just before halftime when he tried to push off his right leg. The force overloaded his Achilles and it ruptured, sending Oliver to the ground in a heap. The injury was caught on video, and a slow motion replay shows what it looks like when your Achilles tendon ruptures. We’ve included the video below, but if you’re squeamish, you may want to look away.
Oliver will miss the whole 2016 season due to the Achilles injury. He was expected to compliment Melvin Gordon and Danny Woodhead in San Diego’s backfield, but now the Chargers will look for rookies Dreamius Smith and Kenneth Farrow to shoulder some of Oliver’s workload.
Dr. Silverman Comments
This is a classic Achilles tendon rupture caught on camera.
The process starts when Oliver’s leg moves into an eccentric contraction position (lengthening of the Gastrocsoleus muscle and Achilles tendon under tension), where the greatest forces are created. The tendon almost always has silent degeneration as we age, and once a large portion of the tendon is compromised, its only a matter of time before…snap.
Oliver will undoubtedly undergo surgery to repair his Achilles tendon. Interestingly, the literature over how to handle an Achilles rupture injury is ripe with controversy. European Orthopedic surgeons are finding some luck with non-operative treatment, but across the pond in the US, we prefer surgical repair for our athletes. While wound complications are a problem, in most studies, the tendon is stronger after surgical intervention, re-rupture rates are less and in this circumstance, return to work is faster.
That being said, Oliver’s season is sadly over. With an open technique he will need to avoid explosive sprint for 4-5 months. With the minimally invasive technique supplemented by calcaneal (heel bone) suture anchors fixation, a few doctors have permitted earlier return (but most will not). That means he won’t be able to play football until mid-January at the earliest. Even if the lowly Chargers were to make a miracle run to the Super Bowl, there’s no way Oliver would be able to get back on the field this season.
