Broncos linebacker Danny Trevathan suffered three injuries to his left knee last season (Jeff Zelevansky, Getty Images)
In the span of four months last season, Broncos linebacker Danny Trevathan suffered three injuries to his left leg: a pair of fractures in the knee area, and then a dislocated kneecap.
On Dec. 16, the Broncos placed him on season-ending injured reserve and, a few weeks later, he underwent reconstructive surgery.
Now he has a two-inch scar running from the base of his thighbone, over his kneecap to the top of his shin, as well as a pair of smaller scars on either side of the knee. All serve as evidence of the injury-marred season that limited him to three games.
The dislocation stretched the primary ligament that holds Trevathan’s kneecap in place. So a surgeon reconstructed it with another ligament and then shaved down the inside of the kneecap to allow for better movement within the groove at the base of the thighbone and for greater stability.
“It felt kind of weird, but it feels good now,” said Trevathan, who volunteered as a coach in the Global Down Syndrome Foundation’s Dare to Play football camp with Ed McCaffrey on Saturday at Valor Christian High. “I just have to be consistent with it. It’s not as sore as I expected to be. Just trying to take one day at a time.”
Trevathan’s left knee is now more secure than ever, but his road back to full strength continues. Slowly rebuilding his quad has been, and will continue to be, his focus.
But so far, all is going according to plan.
Trevathan said he’s on track with his recovery. When training camp opens in late July, he expects to be on the field with the rest of the team, not on the sidelines with the trainer.
