ASHBURN, Va. -- Washington Redskins linebacker Ryan Kerrigan's numbers suffered in the second half of the season. He said it had nothing to do with a knee injury that will require surgery.
Kerrigan said he will undergo arthroscopic surgery to repair a lateral meniscus tear in his left knee, which he hurt in a Week 3 loss to Detroit. He underwent an MRI shortly thereafter. And Kerrigan said he had the knee drained “a couple times.”
Kerrigan said he'll only be on crutches for a day and the recovery period is two to four weeks.
Kerrigan had 6.5 sacks in the first seven games and two in the final nine.
“I don't think [the knee] was too much of a factor, at least not to my knowledge,” he said as he was leaving the locker room Monday. “Maybe it was, but I don't think so.”
But he also admitted that, “immediately after the injury it wasn't so bad, but the constant pounding wore it down.”
Kerrigan said his takeoff was not quite as good after the injury.
“[I lost] a little bit of explosiveness, but not a ton,” he said. “A little bit of flexibility too because of all the fluid that accumulates in there.”
Once his knee is healthy, Kerrigan might have to contend with a position switch, depending on if the next head coach wants to switch to a 4-3 or stick to the 3-4. At Purdue, Kerrigan played defensive end -- and he said most teams before the draft looked at him for that spot. He worked mostly on the left side in college, but did play some at right end.
“That's what I did my whole life, I certainly think I could handle that,” he said of playing in the 4-3. “It fit me well. In college there was a lot of emphasis on penetration, getting off the ball and causing havoc. I like doing that. Whatever the scheme the coach wants to run I'll be more than fine with it.”