STEVE DOERSCHUK
Canton Repository
August 06, 2008 01:33 am
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BEREA — Gary Baxter’s bum luck landed him in the hospital again.
The 28-year-old cornerback, who has missed most of two seasons after blowing out both patellar tendons, is recovering from arthroscopic knee surgery performed Tuesday.
Baxter practiced last week and even got his hands on a ball from a safety position. However, he experienced discomfort and needed a procedure to “clean out some cartilage,” coach Romeo Crennel said.
“He still wants to play,” Crennel said, but that probably won’t happen until October at the earliest.
Crennel said the team appreciates Baxter’s example of grinding through a rehab. That is one reason he showed the entire team a film clip of Baxter making a play on that practice ball.
“It had been two years since he had gotten his hands on a ball in a competitive situation,” Crennel said. “I thought that was meaningful.”
Baxter was listed as the No. 3 strong safety behind Sean Jones and Nick Sorensen. He came to the team in 2005 as a No. 1 cornerback.
“Gary is disappointed, but he’s matured quite a bit,” Crennel said. “If he can handle two patellar tendons on the same play, he can handle a piece of cartilage.”
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