Ed Bouchette reported today on 93.7 The Fan that Pittsburgh Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall has had his surgery now on the torn ACL in his right knee. Mendenhall injured the knee on the final play of the first quarter in the week 17 game against the Cleveland Browns in Cleveland on a 5 yard run to the right side.
Reportedly they were waiting on the swelling to go down on the knee before Mendenhall had his surgery, as expected. The hope is that Mendenhall will be ready for action when the Steelers report to Latrobe for their 2012 training camp. The injury can however take up to 9 months to recover from, but players seem to be recovering much faster from ACL injuries over the last few years.
Mendenhall is entering the final year of his rookie contract and team president Art Rooney II said on Tuesday that he is a part of the Steelers long-term plans, but that they will first evaluate his progresses as he recovers from his injury before working on extending his contract.
Mendenhall rushed for 928 yards this past season on 228 carries and scored 9 touchdowns. He also chipped in another 154 yards on 18 receptions.
