The 2019 NFL draft has passed, highly-sought free agents have been signed, and rookie minicamps have begun. This period begins a time when story lines are minimal and information is random. However, impact players coming off injury as OTAs begin to churn the waters with speculation and fans hoping their star players will be ready. Cornerback Taron Johnson’s shoulder surgery is no exception.
The physical corner suffered a torn labrum in his right shoulder on a textbook tackle on Baltimore Ravens RB Alex Collins during Week 1 in 2018. It was later revealed that he repeatedly suffered subluxations on subsequent hits, leading to further instability which eventually required season-ending surgery on December 5th.
The concern moving forward is whether he will be ready for the season and if so, what are the chances that he injures again? How will his style of play be affected by this injury? Will he be the same? These concerns will be addressed today.
To describe the shoulder anatomy and function, this excerpt comes from an article that I wrote for Cover 1 regarding former Michigan DE Rashan Gary.
“The labrum is a fibrous layer of tissue in the shoulder that deepens the socket in which the head of the humerus articulates with the glenoid fossa of the scapula. This allows for stabilization to the shoulder joint and prevents the joint from separating during movement. Other structures including ligaments, muscles such as the rotator cuff, and connective tissue allow for additional support. Finally, the long head of the biceps tendon feeds into the glenoid and serves as an attachment for the biceps to contract. All these structures together help make up the shoulder joint and maintain stability through motion.”
The labrum can be injured by a variety of mechanisms due to the makeup of the shoulder. As with all joints, with increased mobility, there is decreased stability. In the case of Taron Johnson, a direct blow to the front/top of the shoulder with an outstretched arm was his mechanism of injury. There are several other ways for dislocation to occur that are mentioned here.
Identifying risk factors, the male gender, athletes under the age of 22, and contact/overhead sports make up the bulk of labral tears & demonstrate higher rates of re-tear compared to older populations. There is also evidence indicate that bony defects and soft tissue concerns regarding ligament laxity contribute to some tears. At the time of injury, Johnson fit all the criteria, except structural defects as those are unknown. There is still a risk to re-tear due to the contact nature of football, but this is far from a guarantee that he will suffer further injury to the shoulder.
Research has been performed using data from the NFL Combine to identify risks for labral tears and rates per position. Defensive backs were found to have higher rates of anterior tears due to the nature of the arm being in an outstretched position when tackling along with direct trauma. This is consistent with Johnson’s original mechanism of injury.
Regarding re-injury, concern for further complications is always high after the original injury, especially in professional athletes. While every athlete at every moment is susceptible to injury, the actual occurrence for a labral tear is relatively low. According to the literature, roughly 8-10% suffer the same injury after surgical repair with some literature showing slightly higher rates. However, these return to sport rates are affected by activity level, age, and gender. Overall, 90% return to pre-injury level and 100% of college and professional players return to play which is an excellent indicator for Johnson.
As mentioned above, Johnson had surgery to correct the tear and stabilize the shoulder. Most labral tears take between 4-6 months to return to normal activities, but for higher level athletes, a longer recovery time is expected, between 6-9 months. Considering Johnson has surgery in early December, the timeline available indicates he should be fully ready for training camp.
The NFL is a brutal game and careers are constantly cut short due to opportunity, talent, or injury. Johnson realizes this and knows he must find that balance. While Johnson can continue to maintain a physical game, he will have to prepare his body in order to maintain his level of play. He will have to normalize his range of motion, but not stretch the joint capsule out farther than it should go. Immense attention on glenohumeral and scapulothoracic strengthening will assist him in maintaining stability in the joint. This will be achieved through strengthening the rotator cuff, trapezius, biceps, pectoralis major, serratus anterior, rhomboids, and deltoid, among others. This in turn will increase muscle mass and allow for more tissue to absorb the hit rather than disrupting the integrity of the joint.
Within all the strengthening, focus on neurodynamic stabilization exercises will be key. What this will involve is maintaining control of the shoulder joint through motion, ensuring that he has adequate strength to perform the activities required such as catching, blocking, and tackling. What he doesn’t want to happen is reaching out to grab someone, not having the strength to hold/block the offensive player, and over-stressing his shoulder, possibly causing damage. This will also affect proprioception, understanding where the body is at in space. Allowing his shoulder to understand where it is at in relation to his body will allow him to brace for impact and or adjust his body to complete a tackle, avoid a hit, etc. This will be key for tackling and coverage when fighting for the ball.
Despite being a fourth-round pick out of a small school, Johnson made an immediate impact on the field despite suffering his injury during the first game of the season. Even after suffering the injury, he continued to demonstrate a physical style of play that led to early exits in games due to his shoulder subluxing and at times appearing to dislocate. The question of whether he needs to change his style has been brought up in the Buffalo News and it appears that he is both healing well and wants to continue a maintain a physical edge.
Johnson is a tough dude, you can tell his shoulder is bothersome. pic.twitter.com/F4wkMOoCg1
— Cover 1 (@Cover_1_) December 5, 2018
Further assessing his style of play, I spoke with Cover 1’s Erik Turner. The question was broached on how a coach would approach Taron altering his style of play. Erik provided a link detailing how the Seattle Seahawks have changed their style of tackling to avoid direct hits, instead moving towards a “hawk roll”.
What this entails is a player identifying a better angle to tackle and instead of a direct hit, wrapping him up and rolling him down to the ground. This is seen in rugby and they are able to reduce injury despite wearing little to no padding. Erik also mentioned that former LB Dan Morgan and current Bills Director of Player Personnel could possibly help bring some ideas to the table as he spent time up in Seattle working in the front office. This would still allow Johnson to play with an edge but avoid the blunt force trauma on each tackle.
Overall, Taron Johnson should be return to full form without any issues. There is a chance to re-tear the labrum, but no injury is totally preventable. We have seen this injury occur with a variety of athletes including WR Zay Jones, QB Andrew Luck, and QB Drew Brees all come back and play successfully. More recently, DE Ziggy Ansah & DE DeMarcus Lawrence had their surgeries and should be able to return to playing once cleared. This was a tough injury for Johnson to suffer as a rookie, but through proper rehab, the ability to be on an effective nutrition & weightlifting program, and altering his game will allow him to hopefully stay healthy, leading to continued effective play in the secondary.