Chris “Beanie” Wells Ankle Problems–Rumurs of a Bone Chip?

Pictured above is what Beanie Wells’ ankle spur could possibly look like if in fact he does have an ankle spur. However, it could be scar tissue, a bad sprain or maybe a picture of someone else’s knee. (No really it’s true, I’ve got an anonymous source.)

The Columbus Disgra…I mean Dispatch mentioned in passing Sunday morning that Beanie Wells has a bone chip in his ankle and will probably need surgery.

Now I don’t live in Columbus any more and I don’t get the Columbus Dispatch but am I missing something here?

Nowhere in the story does the Dispatch expand on Wells’ situation nor does writer Ken Gordon provide a source for the information. Again, if I am missing something, please let me know. I couldn’t find it on the net.

What I did see however, was a blog entry by Gordon in which he claims:

“Finally, and completely anonymously, I was told Beanie has been playing with a bone chip in his left ankle. It will require arthroscopic surgery, but of course Beanie does not want to miss any games, so he is putting it off until after the Michigan game. He could get scoped and recover in plenty of time for a bowl game.”

What exactly does that mean? Is there a deep throat out there somewhere feeding Gordon top secret information on the status of Wells’ ankle? And even so, to mention it in a previous article without any explanation? And he knows that Wells is counting on a recovery before bowl season?

Coach Tressel was questioned about the ankle in Monday’s press conference:

REPORTER: “Jim, is Beanie eventually going to need surgery on the ankle?”

COACH TRESSEL: “I don’t think so. He had surgery, you know, back in ninth grade.”

This comment lead Gordon to make something of a retraction of his early reporting. In a blog post titled “Mea culpa (sorta)“, Gordon states,

“I can’t say for certain that what I reported earlier (bone spur) is accurate, and the bottom line is not my professional ego, but accuracy.”

Not that accuracy really mattered on Sunday. Gordon goes on to tell us what he learned from the one line question and answer at Monday’s press conference. Again, a fully researched interpretation of the facts:

“What does it mean? It means we’re back in limbo on Beanie. He may have a bone spur, he may not. He may have an old sprain that won’t go away. He may have leftover issues from an old surgery (scar tissue?).”

Thanks for the breakdown Ken. I would never have figured that out from reading the press conference transcript myself.

However, if somebody tells me, anonymously of course, that Wells has monkeys flying out of his ass, I’ll be sure to pass it along.