Surgery on Armwood’s Jones set for Thursday

Posted Aug 9, 2011 by Bill Ward

Updated Aug 9, 2011 at 09:28 PM

For Armwood senior running back Matt Jones and Hawks coach Sean Callahan, Tuesday was a day of ups and downs. Fortunately, the day ended on a ended on a high note when the two learned Jones finally has a date to have arthroscopic knee surgery—Thursday—and with one of the area’s top sports orthopedic surgeons—Seth Gasser.

Early Tuesday, Callahan said red tape issues with insurance companies made it look as if Jones, who has made a verbal commitment to the University of Florida, would have to wait until September to have his right knee scoped. But after numerous phone calls, Callahan said the Hawks were able to line up Gasser for a final examination of the injured knee Wednesday and surgery Thursday.

With an expected recovery of 4 to 6 weeks, Jones will miss Armwood’s season-opening game Aug. 26 against host Las Vegas Bishop Gorman on national television, as well as its Sept. 2 game against Brandon. The Hawks have an open date Sept. 9 and return to action Sept. 16 against Tampa Bay Tech. If his recovery progresses well, Jones could play against the Titans that week but Callahan said they aren’t going to rush things.

“We’re going to make sure Matt does everything right during the rehab period.” said Callahan, whose squad boasts it’s own certified athletic trainer, Denise Andresky. “We’ll be on top of him but there’s no hurry.”