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Redskins rookie Malcolm Kelly is currently in Birmingham, Alabama to have his knees evaluated.

He may need a scope. Kelly has been missing time with a hamstring injury, but is also experiencing stiffness in his knees. NFL Network's Mike Mayock reported before the draft that Kelly had been removed from some teams' boards due to knee woes, so this is a concern. He remains out indefinitely

Rookie WR Malcolm Kelly in in Birmingham being evaluated by Dr. James Andrews and may need to get a knee scoped, Coach Jim Zorn said. Kelly had a hamstring injury and, in recovering from that, began to feel some stiffness in his knees.

Zorn said Kelly was being evaluated while the coach was speaking to the media, and an update is forthcoming. Either way, it does not appear that Kelly will be practicing soon, and could miss Saturday's game regardless.

Devin Thomas, the other second-round WR, will not be ready to practice fully this week, Zorn said, still bothered by a hamstring injury he suffered in the first week of camp. Should both of them miss another few weeks then the odds of them being involved much in the Week 1 offense start to dwindle.

Zorn has spoke candidly about how difficult it can be for young WRs to learn this offense, and all of its nuances

JansenFan wrote:Its not that big of a deal guys. We're pretty deep at WR. Worst case, we can run a fice receiver set with Moss, ARE, Thrash, ey and Davis.

Posted at 5:17 PM ET, 08/ 4/2008
Kelly Undergoes Knee Surgery

Rookie wide receiver Malcolm Kelly underwent arthroscopic knee surgery Monday to remove loose particles in his left knee. Kelly, who team sources expect to miss about two weeks, had the surgery at the Andrews Institute in Pensacola, Fla.

Kelly, who was taken by the Redskins with the 51st pick in the second round of the April draft, had been dealing with a hamstring injury and, in recovering from that, began to feel some stiffness in his knees, according to Jim Zorn.

He is the sixth player to have surgery since training camp opened July 20. Starting defensive end Phillip Daniels and end Alex Buzbee had season-ending injuries on the first day and have had surgery. Linebackers H.B. Blades and Rian Wallace and starting defensive tackle Anthony Montgomery also have had surgery.

Kelly tore an anterior cruciate ligament in junior high and had arthroscopic knee surgery during his sophomore year at the University of Oklahoma.

In other injury news ...

In the Hall of Fame Game, tackle Stephon Heyer sprained his right knee, and tackle Todd Wade, who was carted off, "sprained an ankle," Zorn said. "I don't know [if it is] a high ankle or a low ankle, [but] nothing with major injuries; just bumps and bruises. We're really excited about that."

Redskins rookie WR Malcolm Kelly underwent arthroscopic surgery to remove loose particles from his left knee on Monday.

Kelly's timetable for return is supposed to be two to three weeks, but his knees have been problematic for awhile and that complicates matters. We saw last year with Robert Meachem how far behind a rookie receiver with knee woes can fall. Don't expect much, if anything from Kelly early in the season despite his solid start to training camp.

JansenFan wrote:Its not that big of a deal guys. We're pretty deep at WR. Worst case, we can run a fice receiver set with Moss, ARE, Thrash, ey and Davis.

CanesSkins26 wrote:

JansenFan wrote:Its not that big of a deal guys. We're pretty deep at WR. Worst case, we can run a fice receiver set with Moss, ARE, Thrash, ey and Davis.

What do you mean by deep? Wide receiver was a major weakness for this team last year and so far our two main additions at that position have been injured. Mix, I believe, still isn't fully healthy either. So at this point we have Moss, ARE, and Thrash, which is a rather weak depth chart considering Thrash is a # 4 or 5 receiver and ARE should be a slot receiver. Granted there is still a lot of time before the season starts but it's going to be hard for Kelly and Thomas to make much of an impact when they aren't able to get on the practice field.

frankcal20 wrote:See I think Thrash could be a #2. He has always been a guy who makes plays. Remember that he was the first receiver to make a TD for the Skins last year so just relax and you will see, we will be fine.

CanesSkins26 wrote:

frankcal20 wrote:See I think Thrash could be a #2. He has always been a guy who makes plays. Remember that he was the first receiver to make a TD for the Skins last year so just relax and you will see, we will be fine.

A #2? Seriously? He would be by far the worst #2 in the NFL. Thrash barely has 50 total catches in the last 4 seasons and has 4 td's in his last 5 seasons. He's a great special teams player but is a very mediocre receiver.

JansenFan wrote:I mean receivers in the sense of people that can line-up wide and make plays. ey and Davis can line up as a receiver, so having those 5 guys makes it less of a deal, plus Thomas will be back, Mix should be back.

Having three proven wide outs and a proven tight end is pretty good for an NFL team. Then you add the young guys we have in addition to Kelly gives us good depth IMHO.

Irn-Bru wrote:I can't even believe this is a debate.

SkinsFreak wrote:

Irn-Bru wrote:I can't even believe this is a debate.

Exactly. Is the sky falling?

Listen, Kelly will miss a mere two weeks of preseason, and I would venture to guess he'll be ready by the start of the regular season. And I'll go out on a limb right now and predict that by the end of this season, folks will be rather impressed with Kelly's numbers and contributions.

Cappster wrote:I will be impressed if he stays healthy all season long. He has had problems with his knees stemming back to his college days. Even when you comes back, he is going to get hit and has to prove that he can be durable.

Cappster wrote:

SkinsFreak wrote:

Irn-Bru wrote:I can't even believe this is a debate.

Exactly. Is the sky falling?

Listen, Kelly will miss a mere two weeks of preseason, and I would venture to guess he'll be ready by the start of the regular season. And I'll go out on a limb right now and predict that by the end of this season, folks will be rather impressed with Kelly's numbers and contributions.

I will be impressed if he stays healthy all season long. He has had problems with his knees stemming back to his college days. Even when you comes back, he is going to get hit and has to prove that he can be durable. I think some people's concerns are with other guys that may get injured. If Kelley is slow recovering from his knee and Moss or Randle El go down, we may be short on talent at the WR position. Thomas has a hammy problem and sometimes those can linger for a while. We aren't too healthy right now at WR, but as long as Campbell keeps progressing, he can help make up for the lack of talent at the WR position with his play if other guys go down.

Jim Zorn said rookie WR Malcolm Kelly will remain in Florida today after having arthroscopic knee surgery Monday and admitted that the team's diagnosis that he will miss two weeks after getting 'scoped was "ambitious." Kelly and Devin Thomas, who remains out with a hamstring injury, were labeled as a bit brittle in college by some scouts I've spoken to, and Zorn said today that both showed up for camp in less-than-stellar shape.

"He wasn't in condition to go through a training camp like this," Zorn said of Kelly. "He really wasn't."

Kelly and Thomas could not pass the team's conditioning test and their bodies quickly wore down with two-a-day practices, Zorn said (players have to perform a timed shuttle run within certain parameters). Both will miss several more weeks of the preseason and will be quite far behind. Zorn said it will be difficult to count on them to have mastered much of this system by the start of the season - if they are healthy - and they will very much be behind.

"I've had this happen in other places I've coached," Zorn said of the rookie WRs getting hurt, "and it's very difficult [to get caught up]."

Zorn said he told the youngsters that he would be jabbing from time to time about their conditioning, attributing part of it to their being selected so high in the draft. "If you can't pass that physical test that we give," Zorn said, "then something's not right." Zorn said that if his knees would allow it, he would take the test himself right now. "It's sort of a pride issue," Zorn said.

Kelly and Thomas may each find a niche in the offense early on in a particular situation (maybe Kelly in the red zone and Thomas on some fly routes), but Zorn has made it clear that James Thrash is definitely the No. 3 WR, and he isn't counting on the rookie receivers for much early on.

CanesSkins26 wrote:

Jim Zorn said rookie WR Malcolm Kelly will remain in Florida today after having arthroscopic knee surgery Monday and admitted that the team's diagnosis that he will miss two weeks after getting 'scoped was "ambitious." Kelly and Devin Thomas, who remains out with a hamstring injury, were labeled as a bit brittle in college by some scouts I've spoken to, and Zorn said today that both showed up for camp in less-than-stellar shape.
"He wasn't in condition to go through a training camp like this," Zorn said of Kelly. "He really wasn't."

Kelly and Thomas could not pass the team's conditioning test and their bodies quickly wore down with two-a-day practices, Zorn said (players have to perform a timed shuttle run within certain parameters). Both will miss several more weeks of the preseason and will be quite far behind. Zorn said it will be difficult to count on them to have mastered much of this system by the start of the season - if they are healthy - and they will very much be behind.

"I've had this happen in other places I've coached," Zorn said of the rookie WRs getting hurt, "and it's very difficult [to get caught up]."

Zorn said he told the youngsters that he would be jabbing from time to time about their conditioning, attributing part of it to their being selected so high in the draft. "If you can't pass that physical test that we give," Zorn said, "then something's not right." Zorn said that if his knees would allow it, he would take the test himself right now. "It's sort of a pride issue," Zorn said.

Kelly and Thomas may each find a niche in the offense early on in a particular situation (maybe Kelly in the red zone and Thomas on some fly routes), but Zorn has made it clear that James Thrash is definitely the No. 3 WR, and he isn't counting on the rookie receivers for much early on.

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/redskinsinsider/2008/08/zorn_jabs_the_rookie_wrs_wade.html#more