Miami Dolphins Pro Bowl center Mike Pouncey said the hip injury that landed him on the season-ending injured reserve list isn't career threatening. But he said he came back too soon, which forced him to miss the first four regular-season games.
"I felt like when I came back, I probably came back too early," Pouncey said Wednesday, the first time he's addressed reporters since being placed on injured reserve Dec. 13.
"But it was just the competitor in me wanting to play, and as a result of that, that's why I'm standing here today."
Pouncey, who only played five games this season, said he doesn't need surgery and he'll be ready for the start of offseason workouts.
"Honestly, right now how I feel, I feel I could play in a football game," he said. "But who's to say that I go out there and it happens again and then could be the last straw for it.
"We'll see how it goes. I think it feels good right now. I feel healthy. Just let it rest and then be ready for the offseason."
Pouncey, a two-time Pro Bowl selection at center and a one-time selection at guard, last played against San Diego on Nov. 13.
He originally sustained his hip injury in a preseason game against Dallas. He returned for the fifth regular season game against Tennessee, then played four more, and was sidelined the week of the Los Angeles Rams game after feeling pain in hip during practice.
Pouncey has had two hip surgeries and he said both were to repair labrum injuries. He said this injury, a fracture, had nothing to do with the labrum injuries.
"I think the previous ones were ligament," he said of his surgeries. "I tore my labrum, both sides, and got them both stitched up. This one was just a fracture. This one had nothing to do with any ligaments or muscles."
Pouncey said his doctor wasn't sure of the risk he would have taken by returning to play this season.
"I got both scenarios," he said. "He said you could go out there and play on it and you could be fine and plat six, seven more years after that. Or you could go out there and play on it and you could re-injure it again and then we could be talking about something totally different.
"So I guess just talking to coach and management the best decision was to just go on IR and not chance it again the rest of this season. Shoot, but the way this season is playing out it was hard to accept. I tell you that."
With the Dolphins possibly headed for their first playoff berth since 2008, the success this year has been tough for Pouncey to watch. He said it'd be especially tough if the Dolphins made a playoff appearance while he was sidelined.
"That'd be a nightmare," Pouncey said, "but obviously I'm rooting for that to happen. I've been wanting to play in the playoffs for a long, long time. Hey, I'm ready for it. Let's go."
