Vikings safety Harrison Smith’s season is in jeopardy after suffering a high ankle sprain in his left foot.
The high ankle sprain is something that Smith has been dealing with for a couple of weeks. He suffered an initial sprain to his left ankle on November 20 against Arizona, but he continued to play through the injury. Team doctors say he aggravated the injury on Thanksgiving against Detroit, and he damaged his ankle even further in the team’s last game against the Cowboys. Smith was seen using crutches and a walking boot in the locker room after the game.
Smith eventually underwent an MRI which revealed that he was dealing with a Grade 3 high ankle sprain. As we explained on this page about high ankle sprains, a Grade 3 sprain is the most severe type of high ankle sprain. Here’s our description of a Grade 3 sprain from that page:
“Grade 3 sprains are the most severe type of high ankle sprain, and surgery is generally needed to fix the ligament damage. Grade 3 sprains are associated with obvious dislocation of the tibiofibular joint. It usually takes 2-3 months to return to sporting activities following ligament reconstruction surgery.”
This description is rather spot on when you consider that a team source suggested that Smith may need surgery, but for now the plan is to evaluate him on a week-to-week basis and hope that conservative treatment provides enough relief that he could return to the field if the Vikings were to make the playoffs.
Dr. Silverman Comments
If Smith is truly dealing with a Grade 3 sprain, it seems highly likely that he will be done for the year. Conservative treatment simply won’t stabilize the ligament and correct any joint damage in the time frame that Smith is working with. If, however, he’s actually dealing with a severe Grade 2 sprain, which involves damage to two or three ankle ligaments, there’s a chance he could be able to play through the pain if recovery goes well, he receives a pain injection prior to the game, and the team is okay with him playing at less than 100 percent.
Simply put, it seems like a long shot that Smith will return to the field for the Vikings this season. He is a young player who just made his first Pro Bowl last season, so there’s no need to rush him back and risk damaging the ankle even further. The Vikings certainly have the ability to make the playoffs and even make some noise once they get there, but considering they’ve already lost Teddy Bridgewater and Adrian Peterson, it might be best to just resign that this may not be our year, and while we’ll still play our best with the healthy players we have, the long-term health of key pieces of the organization is more important than jeopardizing the future for a short-term, uphill battle where they’d have to beat several teams on the road. It’s unlikely that a hobbled Harrison Smith would be the difference in Seattle or Dallas anyways, so the team should make the right move and fix the ligament with surgery so he can come back with a clean bill of health in 2017.