Leon spoke to the press yesterday about his injury, his road back to the playing field and his contract and contract status.
On what happened when he injured his leg…
First carry of the game, fighting for extra yards and then someone had me at the top and I just fell. I heard a pop – it seemed like the pop came later. After I registered that I possibly broke my leg, so I heard it pop, an automatic pop like I broke my leg. It didn’t feel like an ankle (injury), it just felt like right at that spot (points to tibia and fibula). I broke my leg. At that point, I was kind of in shock. I didn’t really feel a lot of pain. (I) held on to my knees. I stayed down and then saw guys trying to waive the trainers over. When John Mellody came over I said, ‘Hey John. I think I broke my leg.’ (I was) kind of nonchalant. Then, after that coming off the field and getting on the cart (is) when different things started rushing through my mind.
On what went through his mind when he broke his leg…
I broke my leg. I’ve never done anything like this before, so I’m thinking of the ramifications. How long will I be out? What part of my leg did I break? You hear people say tibia and fibula, but most people don’t know exactly where that is. (I was) just trying to register all that information and then got off to the sideline and I saw blood coming through my sock. When I saw that, it’s kind of like ‘OK. That’s a little serious.’ It wasn’t the worst pain I’ve ever felt before. I dislocated my elbow in college and that seemed a lot worse. Maybe my pain tolerance is a lot higher now that I’m older, but it wasn’t the worst pain I ever felt. As I got on the cart, I started thinking that maybe I’m out for the season. Obviously, you start thinking about all type of things. How long are you going to be out? Obviously, the contract situation. I’m like, ‘dang man; I’m out for the season.’ (I) didn’t really expect that to happen. That was the short-term thinking.
On what was going through his mind as he was riding to the hospital to get surgery…
First of all, in Oakland, they’ve got to do better about their X-Ray room. I had to get onto the cart, go out in the parking lot (and) go all the way around the stadium it seemed like to go in the X-Ray room. It was all bumpy going through the parking lot. It seemed like I was riding out with the fans (laughing). I think Dr. Andrew Willis was holding my leg the entire time. That was kind of shaky for a moment. Riding in the ambulance, it was kind of shaky trying to avoid all the bumps. My leg felt like it was loose. When I got to the X-Ray room, I was just trying to call my family, my fiancée, my mom and dad and let them know that I’m OK. I’m doing fine. From the TV copy, what they showed, you can’t really tell what happened. I knew the commentators would try to tell certain things, but I was trying to call my family and let them know I’m OK. I was in good spirits. I didn’t cry, so that kind of gave my fiancée some assurance that I’m going to be alright. I told her what happened and that was good telling my family that I was ok.
On what has gone through his mind as time has gone by…
Things are a lot different. When things like this happen in your life, whether it’s an injury, lose a job or god-forbid somebody in your family passes away. It makes you put a lot of things in perspective. This is the first time something like this happened. (This is) something that has prevented me from just doing the everyday things in life just by walking. People take that for granted. For me, it really made me put things in perspective. It got me back in touch with my faith in God. I really rediscovered my faith in him. Secondly, the main benefit was (that I was able to) spend time with my boys at home. I miss them. In the morning, they weren’t up yet, and when I got home, I was tired too, so (now) I’m able to spend time with them. They don’t know (what happened). They just know that dad is hurt, but they don’t know what’s going on. Spending time with them has been a blessing and also spending time with my family. Seeing a lot of support that I have over the last three-and-a-half weeks has been tremendous. From an organizational standpoint, family, and friends it really has helped me cope with this situation.
On when he started thinking about his future…
I didn’t really mention that until I got back home, when I got back here in New York. I left there on Wednesday. Until I started feeling better because for a while I was feeling groggy trying to deal with the pain. Until I spoke with my agent, that’s when we started talking about it. That was really short, it was real brief. I talked to Mike Tannenbaum for a little bit and he (said), “Hey, take care of that and we’ll worry about that when January comes around or whenever our season is over.” That is my approach. Initially, our main concern with this type of injury is no infection. Infection, infection, infection is the major setback. Thank God I am 98 or 99 percent past that point. My wounds are healed up. Most guys with this injury always have a setback with infection and have to go back in and retake the rod out. Thank God I am past that point. My main concern right now is rehabbing, getting better everyday. I’m trying to get my leg back strong to where I am supposed to be, which I am very optimistic about. When this season is over, my agent and Mike Tannenbaum will sit down and we’ll see where we go from there.
On what the doctors have told him about making a full recovery…
The doctors have been great. Dr. Montgomery, (Dr. Willis) are the Jets doctors. Dr. Chang out in California, those guys were phenomenal. The hospital in Berkeley did a tremendous job. The nurses to the doctors, they really took care of me. Dr. Taylor and Dr. Chang performed my surgery. They are trauma doctors and he said he did thousands of surgeries similar to this. In looking at the x-rays right now, they look great. Dr. Chang gave me a chart of where he expects me to be each month. The expected time of a full recovery is six to 12 months. Since I beat the infection part, it’s up to me whether it will be on the six month side or the 12-month side. They are expecting me to have a full recovery. They are really surprised at my mobility right now, my ability to move around. X-rays look great. The doctors and the training staff here with the Jets, John Mellody, Josh (Koch), Dave (Zuffelato). Especially Dave because he stayed with me in California the whole time. He really took care of me and my fiancée. They are doing a great job of making me feel comfortable with this situation.
On his goal of getting back to football-related activities…
My goal is, which I am very optimistic about, is when we get back in March for initial training I want to be moving around pretty good. I want to be able to work out with the guys. That is around the six-month mark. I am very optimistic about it. I have faith about it. I am looking forward to it. The way I am moving around now, I am right on target.
On if he had any regrets about not getting a long-term contract earlier…
One thing with business that I learned is risk and reward. I knew that coming into the season. Things happen for a reason. With my faith in God, being happy (is more important) than money. Obviously the security part is what you want for your kids and grandkids, but right now I feel better than ever before I got injured. Would I love to be on the football field, absolutely. As far as my emotional standpoint and how I feel now, I feel great.
On if he has any regrets about not holding out…
No regrets, not at all. If I would do it all over again and could flash back, it would be the same thing.
On if he feels that he would have to get back on the field before he received a long-term contract…
Who knows? I remain optimistic about the situation. Like Mike (Tannenbaum) said, when the season is over we’ll revisit and see where we’ll go. I miss football more than anything else. Like I told somebody earlier this year, if football was a sport that we play professionally and not get paid for I would be one of the guys to play. I love to play football and that is what I look forward to getting back to. Once that happens everything else will fall into place for me.
On if he’s talked to anyone who’s suffered a similar injury…
I haven’t talked to anyone personally yet, but our training staff has reached out to Michael Bush with the Raiders. I think he did it in college. Our training staff talked to their training staff. He had it in college and had to go back again and do everything over again. That’s the thing we don’t want to happen. These guys gave me a few pointers on what they did. The running back we had here last year that went to Georgia (Musa Smith), he did it. We reached out to him to see some of the things he did in that situation. There haven’t been a lot of (these) injuries in the NFL over the last six or seven years. The main concern with this injury and what most people tell us is get past the infection stage. If you have an infection, it’ll set you back and they’ll have to go back and do everything all over again. Thank God I’m past that point.
On it taking Michael Bush two years to come back from his injury…
Everybody’s situation is different. Bush had to go in and redo the thing all over again. I don’t remember what the case was. I don’t remember if it was an infection. He’s a bigger guy, and I heard that the rod they put in was too small when he had it initially, so they had to put a bigger rod in. That’s something I’m optimistic that I won’t have to do again.
On his limitations and rehab…
I’m very competitive. Naturally, I always want to do more than what they tell me to do. I have faith in the doctors and the trainers. They are very detailed about it. John Mellody detailed every single thing and every bench goal I have each week. Right now, it’s getting everything around that particular part strong, heel-flexing, toe-flexing, getting quads, hamstrings, getting mobility in my knee and getting everything around that part of my body strong, so that when I am able to walk again, I can start rehabbing and that part will be strong. Also, (I’m working) on my upper-body strength. I’ll tell you one thing that’s been great, this Monday I took my first shower in three weeks (laughter). I’m telling you, it’s the little things in life. I’ve been taking bird baths. That felt really good. I think I stayed in there for 30 minutes with the water running over me. It felt good taking my first shower.
On if it’s harder for him to get back to 100 percent because of the type of player he is…
No, I don’t think so. Talking to the doctors, I have faith in my ability and I have faith in what they’re telling me. The great thing about this injury, there’s nothing good about this injury, but the positive thing that came out of it was that I had no ankle and no knee damage. It’s all bone, so it’s basically just letting that bone heal up. I’m able to move my knee and my ankle, which is the most important thing. I’m glad to be at that point, so I think I’ll be back on track.
On how his teammates have been…
Everybody’s been wonderful. It’s been great. From the moment it happened, I must have received more texts than a Super Bowl winner. I’ve seen a lot of texts. My running back set is a group that stands out. Tony Richardson, Thomas Jones and Shonn Greene, those guys have been so, so supportive and I really appreciate that. The organization has been very supportive. They have done everything possible they could to make me feel comfortable. All of my teammates text me (and) call me to let me know that they miss me and that they’re pulling for me. With the guys in the locker room, I’m trying to pump them up and tell them to have a good practice and to go out there and beat the Patriots.
On who his agent is…
Alvin Keels.
On if he will stay with his agent…
Yeah.
From thejetsblog.com. Please read the complete article and let us know what you think below.
