The Injury Healed. But Did the Athlete Ever Move the Same Again?
What Terry McLaurin and DeVonta Smith’s injury histories may tell us about injuries we stop paying attention to
When Terry McLaurin suffered another hamstring injury this season, I started looking back through his injury history. What caught my attention wasn’t one injury. It was the pattern that developed over time.
McLaurin had a significant ankle sprain, followed a few years later by right turf toe. Then came another ankle problem that lingered into the following training camp, followed by a right quad/hip flexor injury and now another hamstring problem.
Around the same time, I was looking at DeVonta Smith. His history also includes significant toe and foot injuries followed by recurring hamstring problems.
That doesn't mean their foot injuries caused their hamstring injuries. We can't know that without assessing them.
But there is enough similarity to ask an important question:
When the original injury heals, does the athlete always return to moving the way he did before it?
McLaurin Was Incredibly Durable Early in His Career
McLaurin's early injury history is important because there really isn't much of one.
I couldn't find a significant lower extremity injury pattern during his high school career. He then went to Ohio State, where the school described him as "nothing short of durable." After redshirting his first year, he played in every team game from 2015 through 2018.
That's 54 games.
He wasn't avoiding contact either. McLaurin became an excellent special teams player in addition to playing receiver, exposing himself to plenty of high speed running and collisions.
His body handled it remarkably well.
Things began changing after he reached the NFL.
The Injuries Start Adding Up
McLaurin suffered a hamstring injury in 2019. In 2020, he suffered a significant high ankle sprain, ended up in a walking boot and missed a game. Another hamstring issue appeared in 2021.
After a relatively clean 2022 season, McLaurin suffered right turf toe during the 2023 preseason. His right foot folded awkwardly underneath him during a tackle.
He was back playing roughly three weeks later.
Then, late in 2024, another ankle problem appeared. That injury was still bothering him months later when he reported for 2025 training camp and began camp on PUP.
A few weeks into the season, he suffered a right quad/hip flexor injury. He missed four games, returned, aggravated the same injury and missed another three.
Now, in 2026, he is dealing with another hamstring injury.
None of this proves the injuries are connected.
But it certainly makes me curious.
Why the Great Toe Matters
Turf toe sounds relatively minor compared with an ACL tear or Achilles rupture, but the great toe plays an important role in running.
Every time we accelerate or push off the ground, we need movement through the joint at the base of the big toe.
If that joint loses motion, the athlete doesn't simply stop running. The body finds another way.
And there is research showing this can happen after turf toe.
One study looked at 44 NFL players. Players with a previous turf toe injury had about 40.6 degrees of great toe motion compared with 48.4 degrees in players without a history of turf toe.
Their feet also loaded the ground differently.
These were NFL players who had returned to football. They were playing again, but their feet weren't necessarily functioning exactly the same.
That is an important distinction.
Returning to play doesn't always mean returning to normal.
The Rest of the Body Has to Adapt
Research has also looked at what happens when movement of the great toe is restricted.
The changes don't stay in the foot.
Researchers have measured changes at the ankle, knee and hip when great toe motion is limited.
That makes sense. If the body can't get enough movement from one area, it has to find it somewhere else.
An elite athlete may be exceptionally good at doing this. He can still sprint, cut and perform at a high level while using a slightly different movement strategy.
That strategy might work for months or even years.
The question is what happens after thousands of repetitions.
Then Look at DeVonta Smith
Smith's history raises a similar question.
Before his final high school game in 2016, he reportedly suffered a significant toe dislocation. The injury was bad enough that he went to the emergency room the night before the state championship game.
He still played.
In 2018 at Alabama, Smith suffered a right hamstring injury that caused him to miss games. A groin problem appeared in 2022, followed by another hamstring issue in 2023.
Then, late in 2023, Smith suffered a significant right foot/ankle injury. He had trouble putting weight on the foot afterward and was seen on crutches and in a walking boot. Injury analysts raised the possibility of turf toe.
Another hamstring injury caused him to miss games in 2024. Hamstring trouble returned during 2026 training camp and has continued into the season.
Again, that doesn't prove his toe or foot injuries caused his hamstring problems.
But look at the two histories together.
Two Careers Worth Comparing
DeVonta Smith
2016: significant toe dislocation
2018: right hamstring
2022: groin
2023: hamstring
Late 2023: significant right foot/ankle injury, possible turf toe
2024: hamstring
2026: recurring hamstring problems
Terry McLaurin
High school/college: remarkably durable
2019: hamstring
2020: significant high ankle sprain
2021: hamstring
2023: right turf toe
2024: ankle injury
2025 camp: same ankle still problematic
2025: right quad/hip flexor injury and recurrence
2026: hamstring
There are differences between the two histories, but there is also a similar theme.
Both athletes were capable of playing an enormous amount of football. Both accumulated significant injuries involving the foot and ankle. Both continued performing at a very high level. And both eventually developed recurring problems higher up the leg.
That is worth paying attention to.
Maybe the Hamstring Isn't the Whole Problem
When an athlete strains a hamstring, obviously we need to evaluate and treat the hamstring.
But I wouldn't stop there.
I'd want to know how the foot is moving. I'd look at great toe motion and ankle mobility. I'd want to know how the athlete loads each leg and whether he can comfortably move over the previously injured foot.
Then I'd want to see what happens when he runs.
An athlete can have a strong hamstring on a treatment table but still place that hamstring in a difficult position because of how the rest of his body is moving.
That's why an old toe or ankle injury can still matter years later.
Don't Just Rehabilitate the Injury
This is why I think injury history needs to be viewed as a story rather than a list.
A medical record might show hamstring, ankle, toe, quad, groin and another hamstring. Each injury gets treated, the athlete returns, and eventually it becomes an old injury.
But the body doesn't necessarily work that way.
Every injury has the potential to change how an athlete moves. Sometimes those changes resolve. Sometimes the athlete finds a new way to perform the same task.
And sometimes that new strategy works extremely well until something else starts taking the load.
I can't tell you that Terry McLaurin's turf toe caused his quad or hamstring injuries. I can't tell you that DeVonta Smith's toe injuries caused his recurring hamstring problems.
The research doesn't prove that.
But their histories give me enough reason to ask whether something from those previous foot and ankle injuries remained.
The injury may have healed.
The athlete may have returned.
But did he ever move the same again?
That's the question I think we need to ask more often.
Recondition the athlete, not just the injury.