Phoenix Suns’ Eric Bledsoe progressing well from surgery
Feb 4, 2014, 1:13 AM | Updated: 1:14 am
PHOENIX, Ariz. — With each passing day, Phoenix Suns point guard Eric Bledsoe gets closer to returning to the court.
While there remains no firm timetable — all parties have expressed optimism of a post-All-Star break return — the good news is Bledsoe has not suffered any setbacks in his recovery from arthroscopic knee surgery in January.
The 24-year-old guard was re-evaluated over the weekend.
“Doctors said everything looks good,” head coach Jeff Hornacek said Monday. “He’s just going to continue his rehab. But, I think, because he got that OK, they’ll step up his workload and continue to push him to get back as soon as he can.”
Bledsoe is three weeks removed from surgery involving meniscus cartilage — it’s unclear whether it was repaired or removed — in his right knee.
Immediately after the procedure, his leg was placed in a brace, forcing him to use crutches to get around. After a few days, both the brace and crutches were discarded, allowing Bledsoe to focus on strength-building exercises and range of motion drills.
His rehab has now progressed to the next step, according to Hornacek.
“They’re going to have him do some more running now,” he said after practice. “They wanted to wait on that pounding a little bit to see how he’s progressing. I think he can do a little bit of that; obviously, they’ll build him up into that. I think weights…I think a lot of it was manual. Now I think he can really hit the weights.
“It’s going good.”
At the time Bledsoe hurt his knee — in a game against his former team, the Los Angeles Clippers, on Dec. 30 — he was averaging career highs in points (18.0), rebounds (4.3) and assists (5.8) per game.
The Suns, after struggling initially, have won 10 of 17 games in his absence.
