Linebacker Reuben Foster had surgery on his rotator cuff in February, and earlier this month he got some bad news. Foster was in Indianapolis for the medical re-check, and according to ESPN’s NFL Insiders program, his rotator cuff hasn’t healed to the level medical officials would like.
If the shoulder doesn’t sufficiently heal, he might need a second surgery. The Insiders program compared it to Shaq Lawson, who also had a shoulder injury that was flagged at the medical re-check. He denied needing a second surgery, but ended up having one a few weeks after the draft. He missed the first six weeks of the regular season with his own shoulder injury. He was activated from the PUP list for Week 7 and finished the season with 13 tackles and two sacks in ten games.
Phil Savage said he does not think the injury will affect Foster’s draft stock. That being said, it will be interesting to see if it slips him a bit. The 49ers are rumored to be interested in him, with some suggesting he and Leonard Fournette are atop the 49ers draft board. A rotator cuff recovery is not the end of the world, but a slow recovery would seemingly be a red flag for some teams.