The potential timeline for Vols WR Cedric Tillman's return to the field
ESPN's Chris Low reported on Thursday evening that Tennessee Vols wide receiver Cedric Tillman underwent surgery on his injured left ankle last week. Tillman suffered the injury in the Vols' win against Akron earlier this month. The senior wide receiver missed Tennessee's win against Florida due to the injury. According to Low, the surgery Tillman […]
ESPN's Chris Low reported on Thursday evening that Tennessee Vols wide receiver Cedric Tillman underwent surgery on his injured left ankle last week.
Tillman suffered the injury in the Vols' win against Akron earlier this month. The senior wide receiver missed Tennessee's win against Florida due to the injury.
According to Low, the surgery Tillman had was a "tightrope" procedure. It's supposed to help Tillman return to the field quicker.
Here's how Low describes the surgery:
It uses a high strength suture (surgical thread) instead of traditional metal screws. Technically known as the Knotless Syndesmosis TightRope Implant System, the procedure is designed to accelerate recovery for high ankle sprains, particularly in athletes, and can decrease the chances of long-term damage that can occur with high ankle sprains.
The tightrope procedure is the same surgery that former Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa had twice during college.
Low noted that Tagovailoa returned to the field 28 days after suffering the injury in the 2018 SEC Championship game against Georgia. Tua started against Oklahoma in his first game back and passed for 318 yards and four touchdowns in the Crimson Tide's win against Kyler Murray and the Sooners.
In 2019, Tagovailoa suffered an ankle injury against Tennessee on October 19. He had the procedure done again and he returned to the field on November 9 against LSU (he missed the Arkansas game and then Alabama had a bye week).
Based on Tagovailoa's experiences, it would seem that about three weeks is the standard recovery time (in 2018, Alabama didn't have a game between the SEC Championship game against Georgia and the College Football Playoff semifinal game against Oklahoma).
Tennessee's game against LSU would be right at that three-week mark, so there's a realistic chance that Tillman plays against the Tigers.
But that's far from a certainty. If Tillman isn't ready for LSU, then he'll hope to be ready for Alabama the following weekend.
Featured image via Caitie McMekin/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK
