Julius Peppers playing through pesky foot injury

[Wesson44]

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/category/rumor-mill/

APLinebacker Brian Urlacher isn’t the only Bears defender dealing with a lingering injury.

 

Defensive end Julius Peppers has a case of plantar fasciitis, which caused the team to schedule regular days off during camp. Peppers wouldn’t even tell Vaughn McClure of the Chicago Tribune which foot was bothering him, following the lead of Urlacher’s evasiveness.

 

“I’d refer to it as soreness,” Peppers said. “General soreness.”

 

Peppers hasn’t missed any game time this far, and looks like the same explosive player during the preseason.

 

Bears coach Lovie Smith shrugged it off as a non-issue.

 

“Guys fight through a lot of things,” Smith said. “Lance [briggs], Roberto [Garza], Brian — all those guys who have been playing that long have something going on. But it’s nothing we can’t monitor.

 

“We take care of our vets. We get them their work, but we don’t beat them up and stuff. Julius should be fine. How many days has Julius missed? He gets sore every once in a while. Nothing major.”

 

Peppers is often overlooked, because his production, while good (100 sacks in 10 seasons), hasn’t been viewed to match his ridiculous natural talent.

 

But he’s played at least 80 percent of the defensive snaps in his two years with the Bears, and has only missed four games because of injury in his career. That kind of durability, coupled with those natural gifts and a better-than-advertised presence against the run, keeps him among the top ends in the league.

 

 

[adam]

Plantar Fasciitis sucks! I've had it for about 18 months now, it comes and goes, but is always there. I run on it regularly, and some times it flares up to the point where I can barely walk the next morning. I've worn a special sock, boot at night, have done physical therapy, and injections. Hopefully he has a mild case, and the injections did help the most, but they can only be done every so often.

[Wesson44]

Plantar Fasciitis sucks! I've had it for about 18 months now, it comes and goes, but is always there. I run on it regularly, and some times it flares up to the point where I can barely walk the next morning. I've worn a special sock, boot at night, have done physical therapy, and injections. Hopefully he has a mild case, and the injections did help the most, but they can only be done every so often.

 

Sorry to hear that...so what does it really keep you from doing when it flares up other than walking as you say.

[barnesat]

Sorry to hear that...so what does it really keep you from doing when it flares up other than walking as you say.

It shouldnt really keep him from doing anything during the game. He will just be in some pain. I have had it for months as well and it hurts a little all the time. I played flag football with it and tried inserts, special after workout sandals, and the nightime boot. The next morning is when it really kills just like he said. You can walk on it then too but the pain gets really bad when you try. So giving him time off the next couple days after a game will allow it to heal up a little. Throughout the game the pain will increase but it is manageable then. That is really the strange thing about it. As long as he takes it easy before the game he should be ok. He described it as general soreness and that's not a bad way to describe it. It just hurts in varying degrees all the time with the peak coming the morning after a game, but since there are no games Monday morning he should be ok. He seems tough.

[adam]

Sorry to hear that...so what does it really keep you from doing when it flares up other than walking as you say.

I am sure he is a lot better off than me getting good treatment, but there really is no cure. I ran about 4 miles the other day with little pain, but the next morning was brutal, I could barely put weight on it, and for the rest of that day it was tough. He really needs to just sit out and just play games, if he does too much in practice, it might impact him on game day. The short weeks will be tough. I am just hoping it is a mild case.

[Mongo3451]

Had it too. Took year for it to go away. Good trick is to stretch your foot and calf while standing with your foot on a board.

[adam]

Had it too. Took year for it to go away. Good trick is to stretch your foot and calf while standing with your foot on a board.

Yep, I am always stretching it and I freeze a water bottle, then roll it under the arch until the foot is numb. That helps a lot.

[AZ54]

I've had it too but just mildly, enough to notice it in the morning where I can't walk without pain for a few minutes and occasionally at work. Once I got some (expensive) walking shoes that limited flexing of the arch area it disappeared in a just a few days... and I work 14hr shifts. That won't work for playing football.