Vikings’ Childs has surgery on both knees

MANKATO, Minn. (AP) — Greg Childs came to the Minnesota Vikings with draft-bargain promise, bringing a prototypical wide receiver’s body with the speed to be a deep-route threat despite dropping to the end of the fourth round because of an injury-affected senior year at Arkansas.

That potential might be forever unfulfilled.

Childs’ fledgling NFL career took a devastating hit when he tried to jump to catch a pass in an intra-squad scrimmage on Saturday night and ruptured his patellar tendon — in both knees. Childs went for surgery on Monday. There’s no timetable for his return.

“He’s got a tough road ahead of him, no question about it,” Vikings coach Leslie Frazier said. “I mean, you’re talking about both knees.”

The patellar tendon runs down from the kneecap to the shin bone.

“We are all hoping for the best,” Frazier said.

Vikings athletic trainer Eric Sugarman could only recall former Chicago wide receiver Wendell Davis as a player who previously suffered these freak simultaneous patellar tendon tears, in 1993 on that infamously unforgiving artificial turf at Philadelphia’s Veterans Stadium.

Frazier spoke optimistically about medical advances that should give Childs a better chance to recover two decades later, but Davis never played again after his comeback attempt failed.

Childs was distraught, according to Frazier, but also determined to resume his career.

“He is going to work extremely hard and get back to playing again. That was his attitude, and those were the words he shared with me: ‘Coach, I’ll be back. I’m going to do it just like I did before. I’m going to work as hard as I can. I’ll be back out here to help the Vikings,’” Frazier said. “That is a great attitude under the circumstances.”

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