So maybe it really was just the shoes.
Today was our first chance to talk to Seattle safety Kam Chancellor since news leaked that he had been considering ankle surgery after struggling through the San Diego game, a contest the Seahawks lost 30-21.
Chancellor confirmed that surgery had indeed been an option. But he said a change in shoes — from low-tops to mid-tops and some alterations to the insoles and some other “different pieces” — has made a world of difference in how his ankles feel.
“We found some ways to get around it, some ways to get better comfort, and I feel better now,” he said. “I feel good.”
Good enough that he said he now has “no concerns at all” about his ankles.
Chancellor has had issues with his ankles (yes, plural) as Chancellor had surgery to repair bone spurs following the 2012 season.
Chancellor said the ankles really hadn’t been an issue since then until the week of the San Diego game.
“It just came back up,” he said. “No problems for a while, just came back up.”
Chancellor explained further what happened the week of the San Diego game and then the week of the Denver game.
“Starting that Tuesday before that game, they started hurting a little bit,” he said. “I didn’t want to talk about it because I’m not a guy to talk about pain and complaining, so I went along with it. I thought it would be okay by the time game time got here. It wasn’t, unfortunately. Went through it, talked to the trainers the next couple of days after the game telling them how they feel at that moment. Weren’t feeling too good. But took a day off that Wednesday, got some rest on my ankles and adjusted the shoes up and the next day went out there in the morning warmup, see how they felt on the shoes and the grass. Felt good, so just went from there.”
Chancellor, in fact, went on to be named the NFC Defensive Player of the Week for his play against Denver, which included a fourth-quarter interception that killed a Broncos drive deep in Seattle territory with the score 17-12.
Chancellor said of the shoe change that he “was playing with low tops at first. Now switched to the mid-tops now. So maybe more support, better support on the ankles now.”
Chancellor also battled cramps in the San Diego game, a contest for which he took some heat after getting beaten a few times, including in man coverage on a touchdown pass to Antonio Gates. But Chancellor said that all comes with being an NFL player.
“Of course it was stressful playing like that,” he said. “It was stressful. But it’s just something that goes along with football. And again, like I said, even the best play through pain, play with pain and get beat on pain and beat people with pain. So it’s just part of football.”
Asked if it’s something he’ll have to manage throughout the season, he said yes, but noted there is lots of managing of the body throughout any NFL season.
“I manage everything during the season the way I play,” he said. “I have to manage my whole body anyway . It’s just managing, getting the early treatment in the morning, getting my massages. It’s everything.”