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We now have additional information regarding Los Angeles Chargers superstar safety Derwin James and, well, it is not great. According to MIke Garafolo of NFL Network, James is set to undergo surgery to repair the stress fracture in his fifth metatarsal, and the recovery timeline has him returning no earlier than three months from now. Foot and ankle specialist Robert Anderson will be performing the surgery.
#Chargers S Derwin James will undergo surgery on his foot following evaluations of the stress fracture in his fifth metatarsal, sources say. He’s expected to be sidelined around three months. The surgery will be performed by noted foot and ankle specialist Robert Anderson.
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) August 17, 2019
There had been some hope expressed yesterday by Matthew Stanley of Bolts From The Blue as well as others that James could potentially be back as early as week 4. That no longer seems even remotely possible. According to Garafolo, 3 months is the best case scenario for the Chargers to get back their most dynamic young player.
It sounds like a firmer timeline on #Chargers S Derwin James will be determined after the surgery, though three months might be the minimum return to action. If he’s back mid-November, that appears to be the best case scenario at this point.
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) August 17, 2019
As Garafolo notes, we will not really know what to expect until after the surgery is concluded, and even then, recovery time for each individual athlete and each individual injury has a great deal of variance. For now, all we know is that the Chargers defense is going to be without its most exciting player for at minimum most of the 2019 NFL Regular Season.