Manti Te’o had recent foot surgery

Dec 1, 2013; San Diego, CA, USA; San Diego Chargers linebacker Manti Te

San Diego Chargers linebacker Manti Te’o had surgery recently on his right foot. Te’o posted a picture of his foot in a cast post-surgery a few days ago from his Instagram account, and fans wonder if he played his entire rookie season with the injury, per Josh Alper of NBC Sports.

Te’o missed the first three regular season games with a foot injury, and with him having surgery, you have to think he never fully recovered, and likely played with a nagging stress fracture for all of his first NFL season.

If Te’o did play the 2013 season with a fractured foot, that can certainly be attributed to what was seen as a disappointing rookie season from the 2012 Heisman finalist. Although Te’o was a starter for the Chargers and finished fifth on the team in tackles, he did not stand out on a mediocre defense that was basically Eric Weddle & Co. While Te’o wasn’t a bad rookie by any means, he wasn’t close to the impact player that fellow rookie teammates Keenan Allen and D.J. Fluker were.

Also, according to the report, the Chargers have not confirmed whether Te’o is the actual owner of the Instagram account that posted a picture of his cast. For his reputation’s sake, let’s hope that Te’o is the owner of that account, because he’s had enough Internet controversies for one career.