We have been told that Edelman's bone injury will heal in time for the playoffs, the implication being that Edelman would then be ready to play for the playoffs.
But even assuming Edelman's broken bone does heal, how do we know the muscles he uses to support that bone will be strong enough to support the intense force Edelman places on them during a game?
Suppose for the sake of specificity that when Edelman does one of his incredible moves he is using a specific muscle M around the broken bone B. Now, suppose that the bone B is fully healed by say, January 17 in time for the playoffs.
The problem is that Edelman would not have been exercising the muscle M normally for the previous 8 weeks. He couldn't really because he has to avoid stress being placed on the bone B while it was healing. And it would take at least a month, probably more, for the muscle M to recover to normal if it has not been exercised as much as usual - and that month can only start once the bone is fully healed.
The other point is that, although we were told Edelman might be back in time for the playoffs, these estimates might have been due to general medical assessments. But Edelman is unique: his quickness and speed of direction change (as shown by any of the several Edelman threads I've started here) are virtually unprecedented in a receiver. Thus, it may be that he puts more force on his feet and legs than a normal player, so that standard medical timetables would not apply.
I certainly have no specialized medical knowledge or expertise. I know when I have had operations, I can get up to 90% reasonably quickly but to really regain full 100% strength, including muscle strength, has taken me at least 6 months. Just the inactivity is hard to recover from.
