COLUMN: To be productive, Stewart must have confidence in repaired toe
Written by Steve Reed
8/15/2008 10:54:05 AM
PHILADELPHIA – Jonathan Stewart is still learning to trust his surgically repaired big right toe.
Trust that it’s truly fixed. Trust that he won’t cause any further damage to it by playing running back this season for the Carolina Panthers.
A player’s mindset when it comes to dealing with an injury can be the difference between a productive season and a lost one. Sometimes it is as much mental as it is physical. This past week a team official told me of Stewart, “Sometimes the most important muscle a football player has is between his ears.”
In other words, if Stewart doesn’t feel like the toe is completely healed, the obvious concern is he might run tentatively, translating into a lack of production on the field.
When he returned to the football field three weeks ago, Stewart felt a regular discomfort in the surgically repaired right toe, raising questions in his own mind about whether or not this is normal.
The Panthers, sensing the rookie’s mind was working overtime worrying about his big toe rather than things like, say, the big playbook, decided to send Stewart to meet with team orthopedist Robert Anderson, who performed the surgery back in March, for reassurance.
Basically the good doctor assured Stewart that he can’t cause any more damage to the toe and that what he’s feeling is a build up of scar tissue. As time goes on and the more he plays, the scar tissue will loosen up and the toe will begin to feel normal.
In other words, the message was this: Relax. It’s not going to get any worse. Stop fretting about it.
Stewart admits he was doing just that.
“Once I got the information I was fine,” Stewart said after Thursday night’s game against Philadelphia.
“When I met with the doctor, they explained everything -- what I can expect to do,” Stewart said. “That was good for me because I could go on with my day.”
And the season.
The meeting with Anderson came days after Stewart told the media last week that the toe still was preventing him from making all of his cuts and that he lacked the explosiveness he had back at the University of Oregon, even though at times he’s looked real very fast in training camp.
Stewart got his first carries as a professional against the Eagles but didn’t look very explosive. He was held to 3 yards on four carries.
Don’t read too much into that.
There were a number of mitigating factors involved, not the least of which is Carolina’s second-team offensive line struggling to open holes. There’s also the fact that quarterback Matt Moore had nobody to throw to because all of the good receivers are hurt and the sloppy field conditions, which meant the Eagles were selling out on the run.
After the game Stewart described the toe as “sore,” but not much different than after a practice.
“It’s something I will probably have to deal with for the rest of the season,” Stewart said. “I’m pretty sure it’s going to hang around for a little bit.”
The Panthers, of course, knew all about Stewart’s injury coming out of college. Actually, they probably knew more than anyone else since their doctor performed the surgery. They trust he will still be an impact player this year.
I asked him if he now trusts the toe, if he truly believes it will hold up.
His answer: “When I’m on the field I don’t really think about it. So it’s not really an issue.”
I’m not sure I completely believe that – not yet anyway -- but Stewart seems more confident than he did a week ago. Still, I think somewhere in the back of his mind he’ll continue thinking about it until the pain subsides.
I wouldn’t count Stewart out this season by any means.
But you have to wonder just how effective he’ll be until he truly feels confident and comfortable with his toe.
The bottom line is this: If Stewart is going to be player the Panthers hope he can be – no, make that the player they need him to be – then he’s going to have to trust Anderson’s advice and ignore the toe.
Only then can he perform up to expectations.
The good news is DeAngelo Williams and Nick Goings are performing at a high level, so the Panthers have the option of bringing Stewart along slowly.
Given they drafted him 13th overall in the NFL draft I highly doubt that is what they want to do. When the regular season arrives, they will be eager for him to produce, especially with their best offensive playmaker Steve Smith out the first two games.
In his mind, Stewart will be ready to put his best toe, er rather, foot forward.
..... Hey, I tried to trade DeA Will prior to the declaration deadline. My opinion is that DeAngelo will get the lion's share of the touches for the early part of the season (75%) until about week 5 or so. Then, more of a 50/50 split as J Stewart adapts to the task and situation.
He is my 5th RB but I thought Dwill would roll over but it looks to me like he's the play.
.....
