Various sources, including Dale Lolley, are now reporting that Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall does, in fact, have a torn ACL.
It is a torn acl for Mendenhall. He could be ready to play by the start of the 201230 season
I’d make a joke about how 200,000 years seems like a long recovery time for an ACL tear, but the truth is that this stinks for Mendenhall and for the Steelers. Pittsburgh was using Isaac Redman after Mendenhall left Sunday’s game against the Browns, but he fumbled twice, and by the end of the game, the Steelers were only up four points and they were giving carries to undrafted free agent rookie John Clay. (And then it ultimately turned out that it didn’t matter anyway, because the Ravens won their game; Mendenhall was therefore lost in a meaningless contest.) Even with the fumbles, Redman isn’t a bad backup option, but I’d feel a lot better about the Steelers’ playoff chances with Mendenhall in there.