The New Orleans Saints fired two team orthopedists, Deryk Jones and assistant Misty Suri, on Wednesday after the team discovered they misdiagnosed cornerback Delvin Breaux’s leg injury, according to ESPN’s Mike Triplett.
Saints fire 2 doctors who failed to diagnose a fractured leg
CB Delvin Breaux was nearly traded because two doctors misdiagnosed his fractured fibula. Those doctors also worked for the injury-riddled Pelicans.
Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports
Breaux was originally diagnosed with a leg contusion, per ESPN, but the injury sidelined him for the majority of training camp. His unavailability reportedly frustrated Saints management, which eventually sought trade offers.
It was later discovered, however, that Breaux’s injury was actually a fractured fibula that requires surgery and has a recovery time of 4-6 weeks.
According to Triplett, this was not the first instance of frustration with the medical staff, and head coach Sean Payton “was livid over the latest issue.” Saints linebacker Dannell Ellerbe and ex-defenders Jairus Byrd and Keenan Lewis also sat out longer than expected after injuries, according to the New Orleans Times-Picayune.
Lewis wrote in a post on Instagram he felt he still would be on New Orleans’ roster had it not been for Jones.
Thank God and I’m not talking about Dr. Sari cause he is an assistant. I’m bless this foolishness come to a end and my prayers have been answered. I wish they would’ve believed me instead of going [off] his reports, I probably still would be on the 53 man roster. I’m glad another player don’t have to suffer like I did #thank you lord truly appreciate it. I hope the NFL take this serious and handle my case correct for real.
There’s an NBA tie-in too: Suri worked for the New Orleans Pelicans last season.
Both the Saints and Pelicans are owned by Tom Benson and managed by Mickey Loomis. It comes as no surprise that both franchises have checkered injury histories.
Most notably, both Eric Gordon and Ryan Anderson were labeled oft-injured after suffering debilitating injuries in New Orleans.
Gordon missed 173 of 394 possible regular season games between 2011 and 2016 with the Pelicans, including injuries to both knees, his shooting wrist, and shoulder. In his first season in Houston, he won Sixth Man of the Year, playing 75 games and averaging 16.2 points on 37 percent three-point shooting.
Anderson underwent season-ending neck surgery in 2013 and missed 37 combined games the following two seasons. He played in 72 games as a stretch-four in Houston, shooting 40 percent from three-point range.
Reigning All-Star MVP Anthony Davis played 75 games last season, but missed 68 games in his first four years in the NBA. Jrue Holiday suffered a stress fracture in his shin in 2014 and subsequently had a titanium rod implanted from the bottom of his knee to the top of his ankle.
A year later, he had a stress reaction in the same leg — a precursor to a much more severe stress fracture.
“I know the rod’s in there to be able to protect my bone, and it’s supposed to take pressure off my shin so that with that rod in there, my leg will never break,” Holiday said, according to ESPN. “But to have the reaction kind of on the side, it was weird and frustrating because I thought the hardest part was over. Being injured and having to sit out, not knowing why this is happening, and then this kind of hit. It was ... yeah, it was frustrating.”
Tyreke Evans also underwent three procedures on his right knee before he was dealt back to Sacramento this summer. Quincy Pondexter needed two knee surgeries in one calendar year and has not played since the 2014-15 season.
In both the 2011-12 and 2015-16 seasons, the Pelicans had the most games missed due to injury in the NBA. Their 351 games missed due to injury in 2015-16 were the most this decade.
