Christopher Stark, M.D., a board-certified orthopedic surgeon, recently joined Austin Stanley of A to Z Sports for the latest edition of "Doc Talk" on Friday afternoon to discuss Tennessee Titans outside linebacker Harold Landry, and the news of his torn ACL suffered on Wednesday.

Stark specializes in sports medicine at the Bone and Joint Institute of Tennessee. His primary focus is knee/hip replacement and preservation.

During the interview, Stark provided valuable insight on Landry's timeline to return and listed a two potential concerns to look out for in all ACL injuries.

Click here to accept Marketing cookies and load this content

Stark shared in the interview that anytime an athlete is returning from surgery on their ACL, it's often different injuries that prevent them from making a speedy recovery.

"ACL’s do recover after surgery, they’re nice and strong afterwards," Stark said. “It’s the associated injuries after ACL that really affects rehab and return to sport."

Stark referenced a bone bruise (which occurs every time an ACL is torn) and a meniscus injury (occurs during 65% of injuries) as the most common causes for extended absences after an ACL surgery.

"You have to do a meniscal repair," Stark said, "that actually slow down your rehab and then you'reactually slower to go back to sport if there’s meniscus damage. The healingon the meniscus is not as consistent."

While Stark did mention that return is more rapid when it's just the ACL that's injured, he still firmly believes Landry would be better suited to wait until next season before playing at full speed again. Even if the Titans were to go on a playoff run.

As for the cause of the injury, Stark did not subscribe to the belief that Landry's ACL tear was a result of him being overworked or wearing down. It has nothing to do with his snap count or games played.

"Definitely not wear and tear," Stark said about the cause of the injury. "I think it’s a one time thing and certain athletes are more prone to this than others anatomically."

With Landry set to miss the entire season, the Titans will now rely heavily on second-year linebacker Rashad Weaver to take a big step froward and fill Landry's big, empty shoes.

Titans fans just need to hope Landry's injury is as clean as possible, and he can recover without the setbacks detailed by the Bone and Joint Institute's expert.

Image via Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports