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This will be a big hurt to Miami if he misses any significant time.

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I would be very shocked if he was ready for the opener. Wouldnt be surprised at all if it was closer to mid-season, and even then he may be coming back too early.

Honestly, anyone expecting Culpepper OR Palmer to return and be ready for the start of the season are missing some things. Knee injuries, especially as significant as these, always take at least a year to get over. My guess is both won't be available until 4th or 5th week. Which is good for the Bengals as they have an early bye. That is why the #2 QB spot is such a big deal for them.

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I agree, that seems way too quick to come back from 3 damaging 3 of the 4 main ligaments.

You guys are dismissing advances in medicine. It takes a year on the outside for an injury like the one Dante suffered to fully heal. However, a QB doesn't need to be 100%, he can be 85% with a metal knee brace and play without significant risk of reinjury. And, unlike with the Vikings, he won't be the Fins' primary ground threat.

Actually it Pepper saying he doesnt think he will be ready, so I'm betting that he would know better than all of us.

For one, there is a difference in these two injuries. C-Pepps was all 3 ligaments, a Willis McGahee type blow-out. Pepper is also a runnign QB, making the injury more significant for him. Palmer's was serious, but it was only the ACL, and MCL. He is also a pocket QB, the knee while important, as deerborn stated, not sure if it needs to be 100% from the start for him to succeed. On the downside, Plamer's occurred 3 months after pepper's. It seems like guys are coming back sooner and sooner from these types of injuries so I'm not ready to dismiss either one yet IMO. But I do say there is a significant risk that either one of these two could miss significant time this year. My guess for Palmer is that he misses the first 4 weeks of the year and comes back after the bye week for week 6. Could be earlier, but that is my guess at this point, and that is all any of us can do is guess, bucause for both of them, noone knows for certain.

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Actually, he didn't say that at all. That was a newspaper's spin on what he said. Here's the complete transcript: http://www.miamidolphins.com/pressbo...contentID=4421

The knee is very important to a quarterback. It doesnt matter that they are carrying the ball 30 times a game, or running routes.

Pressure on the knee affectes the snap, the backdrop, scrambling, and very importantly, planting your feet to throw.

No, I am not. Not too long ago, this was a career threatening and in some cases a career ending injury. That does not change a bodies basic need for time without stress to heal and gain strength. Show me ONE case where a player at any position has had multiple knee ligament tears and has returned to play in less than one year...or even 1.25 years. Just one. I don't think you can.

The key to this is...its not just the QB's decision. You don't risk you franchise Qb at 85%, and maybe lose him for good, when you can wait a few weeks for better averages.

As one who just had an ACL replacement surgery last summer, I can tell you that Culpepper is probably not going to be ready before mid October at the earliest. His rehab is probably going well, but he won't be given medical clearance to practice until August or September.
1 year to recover from an injury of that severity is plenty fast.
Granted, I am slightly older than he is, but I just stopped wearing my brace at work last week.

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Just asking here, because I cant really remember, and I am too lazy right now to check, but didn't McGahee come back in less than a year from his knee surgery, or close to a year?

no, he sit on the bench during his entire rookie season and didn't see any significant playing time until 5-6 weeks into his second year in the NFL.

He basically was off from January 2003 until September of 2004

Ahh ok, I thought I remembered something about him coming back quickly, my mistake.

There was alot of baloney thrown around about him being able to play the year he was drafted but it didn't turn out to be true. But he insisted all that year that he was ready to go. There was so much hype that the facts sort of got overlooked. I remember a preseason scrimmage with the Browns(?) where he scored 3 td's in a goal-line excercise and FF's went nuts with the hype.

Thanks coach, I thought I remembered something along those lines. The memory is not what it used to be.

How will Miami win football games if they dont have Daunte Culpepper? Without his presence as a 'franchise QB' who will fumble the football and throw timely interceptions in his place? Nobody fumbles as good as Culpepper.

Well Tiki USED to fumble that good, but luckily for us Giants fans, he doesnt anymore.

Ok..... so, first you are saying that we are missing advances in medicine (implying that he will be 100% ready for the opener.) Then, you backtrack and homerize your opinion to say that he doesn't need to be 100%?


Which is it?

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http://sportsoutlaw.com/nflnews/?p=414

So whats the deal with this article. He is "banking" on starting the Sept. 7 season opener. Is this just a ploy by him or the team?? Or, is he just really optimistic??