Packers' Mayes has torn ligaments
Posted: Thursday October 08, 1998 10:59 PM
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Mayes was the third-leading receiver on the Packers, catching 15 passes and three touchdowns AP |
GREEN BAY, Wisconsin (AP) -- Receiver Derrick Mayes' knee injury
is worse than first thought, but it's not known if his prognosis is, too.
Green Bay Packers
team physician Patrick McKenzie said an arthroscopic exam on Mayes' right
knee Thursday revealed damage to both the posterior cruciate and medial
collateral ligaments, as well as a lateral meniscus tear.
Mayes, who played for North Central High School in Indianapolis and
Notre Dame, injured his knee returning a punt late in Monday night's 37-24
loss to the Minnesota
Vikings. He was in for the punt because regular returner Roell Preston had muscle
cramps.
The good news was that the anterior cruciate ligament appeared stable,
McKenzie reported, meaning Mayes' season isn't over.
Coach Mike Holmgren, who has been particularly loathe this season to
put a target date on an injured player's return, would only say Mayes will
be back "when his strength, stability and function return to normal."
Mayes' agent, Jim Steiner, said he hadn't spoken to Mayes or the club
Thursday afternoon, so he didn't want to speculate on how long his client
would be sidelined.
Steiner's colleague, Ben Dogra, had said Wednesday it didn't appear the
injury was anything more than a tear of the posterior cruciate ligament,
but he didn't know if Mayes would miss two, four or six weeks.
Holmgren elected to expose Mayes, not Mike Prior, on a punt
return in the waning minutes when Roell Preston had leg cramps. Mayes
looked tentative on the 9-yard return and on the tackle hurt the same knee
he injured 10 years ago in high school.
Because the previous injury and extensive swelling complicated the
diagnosis, the Packers had Mayes undergo the arthroscopic exam.
The choice of Mayes to return the punt was curious, because the Packers
were getting blown out and were already hurting at wide receiver. Robert Brooks hasn't
practiced in a month and is only used sparingly in games because of
soreness in his back. He had a damaged disc repaired in August.
With Mayes out, Bill
Schroeder will serve as the Packers' third receiver and should also be
a replacement for Brooks in some base alignments.
Mayes, a third-year pro from Notre Dame, has 15 catches for 191 yards
and three touchdowns this season, all of his scores coming on acrobatic
receptions from Brett
Favre at Carolina in Week 4.
Schroeder, who has five catches for 49 yards and one touchdown, has
shown vast improvement over last season.
"Little by little I'm getting better at everything I do. And I'm just
having more confidence and I think Brett's having more confidence, also,"
he said.
Working with the first team during Brooks' absence has helped him.
"Yeah, quite a bit," Schroeder said. "That gets a lot of timing down
that I didn't have last year as much as I would have liked. Confidence is
there."
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