The 7-7 Houston Texans will need to finish the season without starting quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick.
According to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, Fitzpatrick suffered a broken leg on Sunday, and the injury will end his season. To make matters worse, according to the Houston Chronicle's John McClain, rookie and backup quarterback Tom Savage will undergo an MRI to evaluate a possible knee injury.
Fitzpatrick should recover well with time, but the double hit of injuries suddenly leaves the Texans quite thin at the quarterback position.
Fitzpatrick's looked bad right off the bat.
Those watching the Harvard University alum's injury saw the quarterback run forward and swing his lower leg directly into a defender's outstretched shin. The two legs were moving in opposite directions when they collided at full speed, causing the nasty injury.
Scout.com's Patrick Starr (@PatDStat) provided a clip of the fracture as it occurred.
The Texans medical team immediately applied an air splint to Fitzpatrick's lower leg on the field. Air splints come into play when an athletic trainer or physician has concern for an unstable fracture or dislocation based on his or her on-field physical exam. The splint prevents the bone or joint from moving further and causing more damage than what already exists.
X-rays likely quickly confirmed what the Texans staff surely already suspected: A broken tibia. McClain later confirmed the diagnosis.
The tibia—the shin bone—is a weight-bearing structure, and an orthopedist will have to surgically fix Fitzpatrick's back into place while it heals. Usually, a surgeon will use metal hardware such as a rod to do so, inserting the instrument lengthwise through the internal portion of the bone.
Post-operatively, Fitzpatrick will likely progressively but slowly bear more and more weight over the weeks and months to come. The entire rehab process will require at least four months and can quite possibly extend to six or more.
Nevertheless, as long as the Texans signal-caller avoided nerve and blood vessel damage, he should heal well with time. Long bones carry excellent blood supplies and generally heal quite well.
After Fitzpatrick went down on Sunday, the Texans turned to rookie Tom Savage.
Even that didn't go as planned.
Late in the fourth quarter, Savage went down with a knee injury. Starr posted a clip of the rookie's injury, as well.
On the play, Savage appears to suffer a hyperextended knee at the hands of a low hit.
Knee hyperextensions are an injury mechanism, not a diagnosis. They can injure or tear any of the major knee ligaments, and Savage's MRI will characterize the extent of the damage within his joint. The range of possibilities includes everything from a minor sprain to a much more serious injury.
In the meantime, the Texans' season is now on life support.
Coach Bill O'Brien's team currently remains in the playoff hunt. However, as the AFC's 10th seed, the squad would need a bona fide miracle to take place in order to qualify for the postseason.
In other words, the team will likely start looking to 2015 very soon.
By the time next season kicks off, Ryan Mallett, who suffered a torn pectoral earlier this year, will likely be healthy—as will Fitzpatrick and, hopefully, Savage.
For now, though, the team's quarterback situation remains quite murky, at best, and Sunday's events certainly did nothing to help clarify matters.
Dr. Dave Siebert is a second-year resident physician at the University of Washington and a member of both the Professional Football Writers of America and the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine. He plans to pursue fellowship training in Primary Care (non-operative) Sports Medicine.
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