Austin Westlake quarterback Sam Ehlinger, who earlier on Saturday sent a message to the Austin American-Statesman about his torn medial meniscus in his left knee and torn lateral meniscus in his right knee, had surgery this morning.
State's No. 1 6A team loses @Longhorn_FB pledge Sam Ehlinger to knee surgery after beating @Katyfootball #txhsfb https://t.co/3HUHC4Bqtz
— Greg Riddle (@DMNGregRiddle) August 30, 2016
It was initially expected he would not need surgery following his winning performance on Friday, but according to multiple reports, Ehlinger went through with the surgery. Each injury recovery is varied upon size of the tear, the pattern, the individual’s health and age and each play a part in the difficulty of pinpointing an exact return date.
According to the University of Washington’s Orthopedic and Sports Medicine website, “Motion is increased as tolerated at six weeks, but deep squats are avoided until 12 weeks. Low impact type activities such as swimming and exercise machines are encouraged at 12 weeks, with advancement to cutting and pivoting sports generally at 16 weeks.”
If the diagnostics are followed accordingly then Sam Ehlinger might have played his last game for Austin Westlake. Ehlinger himself is not sold on the timetable, and told the Austin American-Statesman he plans to return this season. Westlake’s next game is vs. out-of-state opponent Liberty (Henderson, Nevada). The next available quarterbacks for Austin Westlake are senior Matthew Gense, freshman Surya Zutshi and junior Grayson Burks.
