Garcon would rather not deal with surgery

Receiver to seek opinions on his foot

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By Stephen Whyno

The Washington Times

Monday, January 7, 2013

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Will attacks like the one that killed England's Lee Rigby become more common as al Qaeda's leadership is dismantled?

Pierre Garcon isn't sure whether he will have offseason surgery on his injured right foot, though the Washington Redskins wide receiver made it clear Monday he's not enthusiastic about the idea.

Asked if he ruled out having an operation to repair the plantar plate tear in his foot, Garcon said: "Me personally, yeah."

"But we'll get some experts' opinions and get enough of their opinions. A lot of them say I need surgery, which I think I might not need surgery," Garcon said. "But we'll see how it goes."

Garcon first felt pain in his right foot during the preseason but had to tell trainers during the first quarter of the Redskins' Week 1 win at the New Orleans Saints on Sept. 9. He missed two games, returned for two at less than full health and then sat out four more to get five weeks of rest, including the bye.

Despite playing in just 10 regular-season games, he finished with the most yards among Redskins receivers with 633. As recently as Sunday's playoff loss to the Seattle Seahawks, Garcon had been playing with pain but learned how to "manage it better."

"I've gotten used to the pain, I guess you could say," Garcon said. "It's getting better, I guess. But it'll be all right."

If Garcon chooses rest and rehab over surgery, it's uncertain if he'll be 100 percent by the time the Redskins resume workouts in the spring.

"Tough to say right now," he said. "I really can't tell."

After a season in which he showed flashes of stardom and experienced plenty of frustration, Garcon was happy with how he dealt with the injury.

"I can't complain. Some people thought I should've got surgery and some people thought I should've sat out. Some people thought I should've kept playing," Garcon said. "When I got back somewhat healthy, I kept playing and played through pain. I guess it was a little bit of success, something to look at to be like, all right, we did this not 100 percent, not always healthy. So you build from it and keep going."

Rocca to have surgery

Sav Rocca has been punting with a torn meniscus in his right knee since October, and the 39-year-old will have surgery back home in Australia. His recovery time depends on how badly the meniscus is torn, he said.

But Rocca isn't thinking about retirement, which he called "the dirty word."

"I want to get another two to three years out. I enjoy it. I enjoy playing," he said. "And the family and myself really enjoy being over here and taking part in it. So we're going to see how long we can ride this thing for."

Rocca kept playing through the pain, which was worse when running because he didn't want to lose his job. Considering he is a favorite of coach Mike Shanahan, that isn't likely as long as he wants to play.

"I just want to make sure that it's my job, and I really want to play. I think this team's going in the right direction and we've got a good quarterback and a good up-and-coming team," Rocca said. "I think in the next two or three years, this team can really push forward and make, hopefully, a push for the Super Bowl. I want to be around when that happens."

Carroll blasts field

Seahawks coach Pete Carroll blasted the FedEx Field playing surface in a Seattle radio appearance.

"It was horrible. It's a horrible field. It's as bad as a field can get for being dry. It's too bad," Carroll said on ESPN 710. "And we deserve better. So I hope something will [happen], for the other teams that got to play there. It just was worn out. There was a lot of slipping and all that kind of stuff."

Carroll said there was dirt on top of the grass and a lack of good footing.

"You'd like the perfect field and it wasn't a perfect field, we all know that," Shanahan said.

Shanahan said he would be open to discussing the possibility of converting FedEx Field to FieldTurf but added that he prefers grass.

Extra points

Shanahan declined to talk about the cap penalty of $18 million imposed by the NFL for next season. "We're still involved in it," he said.

Shanahan said he had not gotten any requests for assistant coaches to interview for head coaching jobs. Offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan said last week he would be interested in interviewing.

Director of pro personnel Morocco Brown interviewed for the Arizona Cardinals' general manager job last week, and it went well, according to Shanahan.

The Redskins' coaching staff won't travel to the Senior Bowl, Shanahan said.

About the Author

Stephen Whyno
Follow @swhyno

Stephen Whyno is the Capitals and NHL reporter for The Washington Times. You can follow him on Twitter (@SWhyno) or send him e-mail at swhyno@washingtontimes.com.