Sean Lee Injury Update: Only ACL torn, slight meniscus tear as well

By Kevin Parvizi | May 28, 2014

Dallas Cowboys star inside linebacker Sean Lee is done for the 2014 season after tearing his ACL at OTAs yesterday, and I just can’t believe how unlucky Lee is. He’s one of the most talented and well-rounded linebackers in the NFL, in addition to being a vitally important piece of the Cowboys defense. Lee played lights-out last year as well, but it seems that the former Penn State standout is cursed with injuries; he’s never played in a full 16-game season in his entire career and only just recovered from a neck injury that caused him to miss some key games last year.

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Basically all of the news regarding Lee’s injury is bad, and there’s really no positive way to spin what happened yesterday. Even so, it could have been much worse, and there are a few things to at least breathe a slight sigh of relief at.

First of all, the NFL Network’s Albert Breer reported that Lee only tore the ACL in his left knee, as opposed to tearing multiple ligaments, which means that he’ll have surgery sooner than expected. ESPN’s Ed Werder reported that Lee has about an 8-12 month timeline, so that report from Breer indicates that his rehab should be closer to eight rather than 12 months (I’m sure the Cowboys will take things as cautiously as possible with one of their best players).

Now, ESPN Dallas’s Todd Archer reports that Lee’s injury is a torn ACL with a slight meniscus tear, so that’s a new wrinkle to add to Breer’s initial report. However, Archer adds that doctors might not have to repair Lee’s meniscus tear, and he confirmed that the other ligaments seem to be fine. This is all good news, and hopefully the slight meniscus tear is indeed nothing to worry about; Lee already has more than enough to deal with.

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