Turner's injury could be serious

By D. Orlando Ledbetter

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

CHARLOTTE – An extended loss of running back Michael Turner could handicap the Falcons in their bid for a second consecutive playoff trip.

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Rick Havner, AP Falcons running back Michael Turner had 111 yards rushing before leaving the game in the first half with a high ankle sprain.

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Turner was turning in another stellar effort before suffering a sprained right ankle. The injury was severe enough for him not to return to the game.

He had nine rushes for 111 yards with just over nine minutes left in the second quarter before going down.

He left the game after two runs to move the ball down to Carolina's 15 with 9:08 left in the second quarter. On a 10-yard run up the middle, he was tackled by Carolina's Jon Beason and left the game.

He was seen trying to walk for the trainers on the sidelines before leaving the field to go to the locker room.

Turner will have a test on Monday to reveal the extent of the injury.

"I'm assuming that it's a [MRI]," Turner said Sunday of the test. "They are going to let me know more tomorrow. We'll have plenty of time to talk about that."

The key for Turner could be if he has a low or a high ankle sprain.

Low sprains occur when the foot is turned inward and stretches ligaments, and they are pretty common. The high one occurs when the ankle is turned outward.

If it's a high ankle sprain, Turner could be out for a while.

"These injuries [high ankle sprains] represent only 10 percent of all ankle sprains, yet they are increasingly seen in football players of all levels," writes Dr. Matt Matava, associate professor of orthopedic surgery at Washington University's School of Medicine and the head team physician for the St. Louis Rams, in article on the team's Web site. "In addition, these sprains result in significantly more lost time from sports due to the nature of the damage that occurs."

Turner, who was wearing a boot after the game, did not return to the sideline for the second half.

"You want to be out there fighting with your teammates," Turner said. "You spend all week to come out here and play, and things were going good as far as the run game was going, but we still were down."

The team would not give him an idea of how long he might be out.

"They wouldn't say [anything] right now," Turner said. "I'm just going to keep an open mind. It's an ankle sprain. We'll take it from there and just do what we can do."

After a slow start this season, Turner had rushed for 151 yards and 166 yards in the Falcons' last two games. His effort against Carolina was his fourth 100-yard game of the season.

He would be replaced in the lineup by third-string tailback Jason Snelling. Turner's backup, Jerious Norwood, missed his fifth straight game with a right hip flexor.

On Saturday, the Falcons released running back Aaron Stecker. They likely don't have any interest in signing former Pro Bowl running back Larry Johnson, who was recently released by the Kansas City Chiefs.