« UNH's Kevin Regan named top college hockey player in New England | Main | Multimedia: Projo SoxTalk with Sean McAdam, from Los Angeles »

March 28, 2008

Patriots' Watson has ankle surgery, may miss start of camp

In news first reported by the Boston Herald, tight end Benjamin Watson recently underwent left ankle surgery and may not be ready come training camp in late July.

The surgery reportedly revealed cartilage damage and scar tissue; when asked about the surgery, Watson declined. The Patriots refused to comment.

Watson first injured the ankle in Week 6 against Dallas, when he was dragged down from behind by Cowboys' safety Roy Williams, who is so notorious for taking players down that way that the NFL instituted a rule against using a "horse collar" tackle because of a high incidence of injury with the move.

Though Williams was fined three times for such a tackle last season -- including a one-game suspension late in the season after a takedown of the Eagles' Donovan McNabb -- he was not cited for the Watson tackle.

Watson played in 12 games last season. The Patriots cut veteran tight end Kyle Brady on Feb. 29, apparently before the extent of Watson's injury was known. David Thomas, who missed most of last season, and Stephen Spach, are the team's other players at the position.

-SHALISE MANZA YOUNG

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 11:17 AM to Patriots | Permalink

Comments

Post a comment

Please be civil. Vicious comments, personal attacks and profanity won't be published.

Name:

Email Address:

URL:
Remember Me? YesNo

Comments: (you may use HTML tags for style)