Harris Hopes To Return In 2008

 From: Jack Bechta, Agent for Al Harris

Although a splenetic injury has to be taken very seriously, Al Harris is determined to play this season and there is new hope of Al returning in several weeks. 

However, the training and medical staff of the Packers are approaching this injury with extreme diligence and caution.  They are going the extra mile, as they usually do, to make sure that they have all the relevant information needed to help Al make the appropriate decisions and more importantly, to make sure he does not jeopardize his long term health.

 As of today, this is what I know:

1.     Al has suffered a laceration of the spleen on the collision he had with AJ Hawk.

2.     The CT scan did show some damage and bleeding.

3.     Al is currently in the process of getting a 3rd and 4th opinion by two prominent surgeons.

4.     As of today, the time line is that Al will be re-evaluated and scanned again in a few weeks.

If there are no additional concerns from the new opinions, which I hope to receive in the next 48 hours, then Al can start "non-impact" workouts such as elliptical or pool work in one weeks time. Only until the future CT scans show that there has been significant healing, may Al be released to start light football activities and practice.  Therefore, the good news is that Al may return this year and that this is not a life and death situation. No definitive return date has been set, but knowing Al like I do, he will heal fast and do everything in his power to get back on the field.  As more information comes in from the additional opinions I will keep you updated here at The National Football Post (nfpost.com).

On a side note, Al has only missed one other football game in his whole HS, College and Pro career.  He suffered a high ankle sprain in college and missed just 1 game. In addition, he is so determined to play that he has already asked one Doctor on Monday to "remove his Spleen so he can play against Tampa this weekend".  The Doc obviously made it clear that was not a good idea and the recovery time would be several weeks.  The Cowboys game marked the 175th straight NFL appearance for Al Harris, an amazing run for such a physical player.  This is a player who has told me he wants a Darrell Green-type career and continues to do all the little things 24/7 to make this goal a reality.  Therefore, I would not count Al out for this season.

Once again, I will report any additional findings once Al completes his additional opinion search.

nationalfootballpost.com

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