LolaRox":d8x3c3gm said:
Can a sprained MCL be diagnosed without an X-ray or MRI?
A full diagnosis of the extent of the injury requires MRI. However, physical exam of the MCL is pretty good, and a good examiner should be able to determine whether there is a complete tear or a moderate to severe sprain (partial tear). A small, sprain (partial tear) may not result in enough joint laxity to allow for diagnosis by physical exam, even by a very good examiner.
MRI is used to accurately determine the degree of the tear, and probably more importantly, look for any associated meniscal injury.
It is possible to have a completely torn MCL and walk or jog with little to no pain. All patients will, however, have a sense of instability.
There is no reason to hold him out of next weeks game if he has no meniscal injury. He either has a severe enough tear to require surgery (likely with meniscal damage), or he can play.
That being said, given injury to both legs, I would keep the reigns on his running game and absolutely pull him out if we are up by 21 next week.
As soon as he started taking off on that play I was screaming at him to be smarter and just get rid of the ball. It's not like it was a tight game where we needed him to pull a Russell out of the hat to win it. He has to be smarter than that, situationally, and protect himself like he has done so well in the past.
