Konrad Andersson heard a snap in his knee and fell to the ground. It was only hours into his first day of practice on Aug. 16, after transferring to Syracuse from Hartwick, when the sophomore went down in pain.  

‘We were doing a couple of drills and he just kind of went over, allegedly,’ said head coach Ian McIntyre, who didn’t see Andersson fall but was alerted by trainers. ‘He could have been faking. We weren’t sure. They’re a bit of a softy, those Swedes. But he just went down and he is, in fairness, a pretty tough cookie, so we knew at that stage that he had a bit of an issue.’

Originally from Helsingborg, Sweden, Andersson is a defender who transferred to stay under McIntyre. Andersson had torn his meniscus just one day into his Syracuse career. Surgery was his only option, and during the surgery his meniscus was cut out. Two weeks after that surgery, Andersson has started a routine of light jogging. But his return this season is in question.

The meniscus in the knee is a section of cartilage that acts as a shock absorber. When torn, it can either be stitched back together or it can be removed. A repair can only happen in the case that the rip is clean, but the removal of either parts or the whole piece of cartilage is more likely in college athletes, said Syracuse athletic trainer Tim Neal.

In many cases, including Andersson’s, the doctor doesn’t know which course of action he will take until he gets into surgery and sees the tear. Andersson did not know until he woke up that the doctor had removed his meniscus.

‘First when I woke up, I was a bit under the drugs, so I can’t really remember so much,’ Andersson said, ‘but I talked to my doctor later in the afternoon, and he explained the surgery and what they did to it.’

The removal of his meniscus came as bittersweet news. Recovery time for a removed meniscus is shorter than for a repaired one because internal stitches take a long time to heal. Andersson’s timeframe for recovery is unclear, but injuries like his can typically take anywhere from three to six weeks.

The long-term effects of having a meniscus removed can vary because the changes within the joint cannot entirely be predicted. Neal said arthritis was a major concern after any joint injury, especially one this severe.

Just more than two weeks after Andersson’s surgery, he is trying to focus simply on the recovery process and take things day-by-day. Last Thursday, he was able to escape the training room and do some light running on the field with his teammates. This puts him in the third phase of his rehabilitation.

‘Recovery goes by phases,’ Neal said. ‘The first phase is just to get them comfortable, reduce the swelling and get the range of motion back in terms of the leg muscles. The next phase would be to enhance their strengthening. … They can usually progress from there to running, and from there they go back to sport-specific activity, and then they’re back to activity.’

McIntyre expects to have his defender back, but his injury has put his place on the team in question. As the group of old and new begins to gel, Andersson is in and out of the training room. In a tough loss to Siena, McIntyre noted that aside from the score, he was very happy with his back four.  If Andersson’s recovery takes too long, then he and McIntyre will have to look into the option of a redshirt year.

‘We have big plans for him. But injuries happen, and an injury is an opportunity for someone else to take up that spot,’ McIntyre said. ‘He’s going to now have to come back and try to prove himself and try to get himself back into the mix for the starting group.’

alguggen@syr.edu