Philadelphia Eagles star Tore His ACL for 3rd Time, Still Hoping to Contend for Spot on 2024 Olympic Team

On December 22, two-time Olympian/Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Devon Allen tore his left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) while running a route during an Eagles practice.

It was the third ACL tear of Allen’s career. Allen previously tore his right ACL during the opening kickoff of the 2015 Rose Bowl while playing for the University of Oregon against Florida State. He then tore his left ACL defending a punt against Nebraska in September 2016 for Oregon.This time, Allen said he met the route when the injury occurred. He also suffered a Grade 2 MCL sprain on the play. Allen said he could not pinpoint where the play in question went wrong.

“It really depends on how my body is built,” Allen tells LetsRun.com. “What makes me is that I put a lot of power on the ground and sometimes I can’t stop that power as well as I know how to use it. And I really couldn’t tell you. The play where I hurt my knee, I’ve done it probably 100 times this season, same route, same moves.”Allen was 20 when he suffered his first ACL injury, 21 when he suffered his second, and now 29. Each time he ran faster after surgery. After first tearing his ACL in January 2015, Allen came back to win the NCAA and USA 110-meter hurdles titles in 2016.

He ran a personal best 13.03 at the trials, before finishing fifth at the Rio Olympics. After suffering another ACL tear in September 2016, Allen finished third at the US Championships in June 2017 and qualified for the world championships in London this summer. He lowered his personal best of 12.99 in 2021. us and ran 12.84 in 2022. third fastest hurdler of all time.”It’s not a death sentence anymore, and every time I’ve come back, I’ve come back faster and stronger,” Allen says. “That’s what I’m hoping for this next recovery. Obviously, it’s not ideal. I wouldn’t want to go through rehab again. But hey, that’s sport. Especially at this level, we push our bodies to their limits almost 24/7.

And for me even more because I can’t rest. I go through seasons of football, one football after another.”Allen had surgery to repair a torn tendon and meniscus on Jan. 5 at OrthoArizona Scottsdale Surgery Center. Dr. Brian Shafer Allen is now three weeks out from surgery and said compared to the first time, he is his Advanced in ACL surgical rehabilitation. At that time, he also repaired the meniscus and had to leave the hospital on crutches. This time, Allen was able to walk out of the hospital.”I watched videos of my condition and the exercises I did and how I moved,” says Allen. “I feel like my range of motion and strength is probably like eight weeks.”Allen is currently recovering in Phoenix under the guidance of his fitness trainer, Anna Hartman.

Between manual therapy, gym sessions and Pilates, Allen spends up to five hours a day rehabbing. The current focus is to reduce swelling and restore range of motion. Allen’s goal is to return to jogging and some form of running training within 10 weeks of the surgery, when he will move to Annapolis, Md., to train with his coach, Jamie Cook, who is the track coach at the U.S. Naval Academy. . ..

Allen aims to return in time to compete at the Prefontaine Classic on May 25 and make his third Olympic team this summer. The Olympic trials will take place in the 21st-30th. June in Eugene, Ore.NFL players typically take 9-12 months to return to play after ACL surgery.

Allen admits that competing at Pre — just under six months after surgery — is an aggressive goal. But he pointed out that football requires more body than howling. Sport-specific skills such as deceleration and change of direction required for returning to football are usually the final parts of the rehabilitation process. He didn’t need to master those skills to return to track, where he focuses on sprints and straight-line hurdles.Allen knows, however, that it will take a lot of effort to qualify for a third Olympics because no country is deeper in the 110m hurdles than the United States.”I have to be realistic, I still have to run 13.1, 13.0, 12.9 to make the Olympic team,” Allen says..