The Patriots are notorious for being secretive with injuries, but this is crazy. It was originally reported that Mankins partially tore his ACL in the Super Bowl and had surgery immediately after, though that was not even reported until about a month later. However, it appears that was not even accurate as, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Mankins suffered the injury against the Dolphins, week 1 of the 2011 season and played not just the rest of the game, not just the other 15 games of the regular season, but 3 more playoff games before getting surgery. Schefter calls him “one of the rare, if not the only, player ever to have played an entire 16-game season with a torn ACL,” and I would agree with that. I’ve never heard of anything like this.
I’ve mentioned at times before that Mankins had a slightly down season in 2011. He wasn’t bad or anything, but he wasn’t his normal dominant self. A top-6 guard on ProFootballFocus every season from 2008-2010 (1st, 6th, 3rd), something no one else can say, Mankins ranked “just” 31st last season, pretty middle of the pack out of 76 eligible. Considering his injury status, that might be the most impressive season of his career. Now fully healthy, there’s no reason why he can’t go back to being his normal dominant self in 2012 and make his 5th Pro Bowl (2007, 2009, 2010, 2011). He’s a true, dependable bright spot on an otherwise question filled offensive line for the Patriots.
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