Childs has surgery, on injury waivers

Two days after Greg Childs tore the patellar tendon in both knees, the Vikings placed him on the waived-injured list, likely setting him up for injured reserve.

Greg Childs’ torn patellar tendons in both knees landed him on injury waivers, with the likely scenario that he won’t be claimed by another team and will be placed on the Vikings’ season-ending injured reserve list.

The 2012 fourth-round draft pick tore both patellar tendons Saturday night when he landed awkwardly on the second-to-last play of a live practice in front of 10,500 fans at Blakeslee Stadium. Childs was lifted onto a carted and taken for evaluation.

“At the time after the scrimmage when we were sitting down in a side room, he was distraught, as you would expect,” Vikings coach Leslie Frazier said. “It’s hard, but he really had a frame of mind where, because he’s experienced adversity before, he really feels as though he’s going to be able to bounce back from this and he’s going to work extremely hard and get back to playing again. That was his attitude, and those were the words that he shared with me: ‘Coach, I’ll be back. I’m going to, just like I did before, work as hard as I can and I’ll be out here to help the Vikings.’ And I said, ‘Well, that’s a great attitude, under the circumstances. Great attitude.’

Childs was having surgery Monday, Frazier said.

Childs also tore the patellar tendon in his right knee in October 2010 while at the University of Arkansas and was believed to be back to full strength before Saturday’s injury. The Vikings aren’t putting any timeframe on his return.
“He’s got a tough road ahead of him. There’s no question about it. You’re talking about both knees,” Frazier said. “It’s going to be hard. It’s going to be tough. But part of what helps a guy make it back if he’s able to make it back from an injury like that is approaching your rehab with the right attitude and the right focus. And some of the advances that have been made medically sometimes help it as well, but your attitude and your focus in this situation is probably what’s going to get you through some dark days. There are going to be some tough days ahead for him. And it’s going to be tough.”

The Vikings know of only one other case where an NFL player, Wendell Davis, a receiver for the Chicago Bears, tore both patellar tendons. Davis’ injury came in a 1993 game at Vet Stadium in Philadelphia. He missed the 1994 season and attempted to come back and play for the Indianapolis Colts in 1995 but didn’t appear in a game.

The Vikings re-signed receiver A.J. Love on Monday. Love, a rookie free agent, was just released by the Vikings hours before the Childs injury when the team signed guard Bridger Buche to fill a void created by injuries along the offensive line.

“We’ll definitely be scouring the waiver wires and taking a look at what’s out there and seeing how we can upgrade our team,” Frazier said. “Not to say that we’re going to do anything, but we’ll definitely be looking.”

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