One of the most lowkey important storylines going into 2021 is the status of Robert Quinn. The Chicago Bears paid him a lot of money last offseason in the hope he could finally be that quality #2 pass rusher opposite Khalil Mack. Instead, all they got from him was two sacks last season. A colossal disappointment in every measure. With the season approaching this year, Quinn is venturing dangerously close to the label of worst free agent signing in Bears history.
He needs a bounceback year in the worst way. The question is will his body be able to handle it? Last December, it was revealed that Quinn had been battling an issue of foot drop (or drop foot). A debilitating nerve issue that took away strength in his foot. This helped explain why he seemed to lack his trademark explosion for most of the season. What nobody knows if he can recover from this problem.
One person thinks so.
Reddit user u/KidK0dy1 wrote a post claiming he diagnosed and treated foot drop for a living. He went into a deep explanation about what exactly he thinks Quinn was dealing with. Based on the details provided? It sounds painful and frustrating. There is good news though. In his estimation, more than enough time has passed for the pass rusher to be fully recovered. Enough to where he may outperform expectations.
“What exactly is foot drop? It’s typically caused by one of two things. First, it can be caused by a disc herniation. However, this is unlikely in Quinn’s case. Radiculopathy (disc herniation that touches the spinal cord) with foot drop is typically a surgical consult and he certainly would not be playing on it. The second option is what I think Quinn had.
Fibular neuropathy at the fibula. This nerve lies just under the skin on top of the head of the fibula (the bone on the lateral side of the calves). The most common causes of injury are prolonged compression and trauma. Due to the position Quinn plays, I suspect trauma. When the nerve is injured you lose innervation of the front of the leg below the knee. This means a lot of your power and more refined movements are severely compromised.
There really isn’t a treatment for this either, you just have to wait for reinnervation which happens at the rate of about 1mm per day after the nerve has completely deinnervated. With him being 6’4″ this likely would have taken best-case scenario 10 weeks to reinnervate. That also doesn’t take into account weight training to re-strengthen the muscles.”
This certainly offers some hope.
Quinn isn’t off to the best start this offseason, having missed minicamps with a back issue. By the sound of things, the Bears aren’t taking chances with him this year. His snaps will likely be reduced to pure pass rush situations. This in an effort to preserve his health as much as possible. One can expect new arrival Jeremiah Attaochu and second-year man Trevis Gipson to fill in the gaps around him.
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Robert Quinn is likely battling for his NFL future
Everybody knows players who enter their 30s have a stigma around them. Belief from teams is that they are going to start declining quite soon. Quinn’s two-sack season last year didn’t help his case. Nor does his ongoing string of health problems. If he fails to deliver in 2021, it is a safe assumption the Bears will be looking for ways to get out of his contract next offseason. They would secure $6.7 million in cap space by cutting him outright and $12.9 million with a post-June 1st designation.
Reset assured GM Ryan Pace won’t hesitate to do it. He’s never had a problem admitting mistakes in the past. If Quinn is released after another bad season, it is fair to wonder if his NFL career might be over. Teams tend to shy away from older, injury-prone players. So the man has every reason to be motivated this season. He’ll even have an extra opportunity to increase his sack tally with the addition of a 17th game.
There are no excuses this year. Robert Quinn must deliver or his time in Chicago will be viewed as nothing short of a colossal failure.
