New England Patriots running back Rex Burkhead suffered a season-ending injury during his team’s loss against the Houston Texans in Week 11, and earlier this week underwent surgery on his right knee. According to the man himself, who took to social media following the procedure, the surgery did go well:
Successful surgery Tuesday and on the road to recovery now! Rockin my @teamjackfoundation “Twice The Fight” shirt for the Hoffman family! Check out the E60 story this Friday at 8ET on ESPN2. “If God opens the door, run through it.” -Andy Hoffman @espne60
Burkhead had already confirmed that the injury he suffered on a rushing attempt in the third quarter would sideline him for the remainder of the 2020 season, writing that he would be looking “forward to coming back better than ever in 2021” last week.
Before his injury — supposedly a torn ACL — Burkhead has played a valuable role for New England’s offense this season. While Sony Michel and, later, Damien Harris have seen most of the carries on early downs, he has served as a rotational change-of-pace option alongside them. In this role, Burkhead had been on the field for 269 of a possible 662 offensive snaps (40.6%), which is actually still leading the Patriots’ running back group.
His future in New England is now in question, though: not only is he looking at a recovery process but the 30-year-old is also headed for unrestricted free agency next spring.