A few weeks ago, it was reported that New York Jets starting left guard Matt Slauson had surgery on a shoulder injury that he played the majority of the season with.
However, on Thursday, Slauson revealed that the extent of the damage was far more serious than he ever let on.
The third-year player, who turns 26 years old on Saturday, played the 2011 season with a left shoulder injury that included a torn labrum, a torn rotator cuff and a torn bicep.
“I knew something was wrong, but I was like, ‘OK, I’ll keep on playing as long as I can play,’ and I was able to get through it all,” Slauson said. He added that he was in “quite a significant amount” of pain throughout.
The big 6’5, 315 pound Slauson said that he originally felt pain in his shoulder back in December of 2010, but he never got it checked out and didn’t think much of it until recently.
“I thought it was no big deal, the fact that I could play,” he said. “I didn’t think it was a big deal or anything was wrong.”
Now, Slauson is ready to put the injuries behind him and get ready to take the next step under new coaches and offensive line gurus Tony Sparano and Dave DeGuglielmo.
“I felt like I had a fairly successful year [battling through the injuries]” he said. “So I’m really excited about next year without having pain.”
A 2009 6th-round draft pick out of the University of Nebraska, Slauson has become a steady, reliable starter for the Jets as a starting guard the last two seasons.
The entire offensive line as a whole needs to do a better job in 2012, but you have to tip your cap to Matt Slauson. He’s certainly one tough son of a gun.
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