GREEN BAY, Wis. — Sean Richardson is anxious. He's also fortunate. Watching from the sidelines while his teammates compete hasn't been easy for the Green Bay Packers' second-year safety, but Richardson's positive progress since undergoing neck surgery in January has given him hope that he'll soon be back on the field.
"I'm close to 100 percent," Richardson said in the locker room. "We don't have a timetable yet, but we're taking it day by day, step by step. Rehab is going great. I'll be back soon. I'm pretty close."
Late last season, Richardson wasn't quite sure what was wrong with him. He suffered a back injury in Week 12 and started experiencing back spasms in the days following that game.
"The neck really didn't bother me at all," Richardson said. "It was more of my back. I practiced a few days and it got a lot better, so I thought I'd be fine for the next game. But that Friday, it was just precautionary that they wanted to check it out and see what it looked like.
"That's when I got the bad news."
The bad news was that Richardson was placed on injured reserve and that his injury would require surgery.
"A herniated disk in the neck," Richardson said. "That's pretty serious."
Understanding that the results of this surgery could affect not only his NFL career but also his post-football life, Richardson began doing extensive homework on surgeons. The recommendations he received came back almost unanimously that Los Angeles orthopedic surgeon Robert Watkins was his best option.
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