Ridley doing fine

Published 12:00 am Saturday, March 28, 2009

BATON ROUGE — Stevan Ridley’s right knee has been repaired. Now it’s time to get it strong enough to get back on the field.

Ridley, the former Trinity Episcopal standout and current LSU running back and special teams player, had successful surgery Friday to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.

The surgery was performed by LSU team orthopedic surgeon Dr. Brent Bankston and took about three hours.

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“Everything went well,” Ridley said. “I went in at about 12:30 (p.m.) and they were done at about 3:30.”

Ridley stayed overnight at a Baton Rouge hospital, but said he would be released this morning and hoped to be in attendance at LSU’s football scrimmage at 10 a.m.

Now that the surgery is over, Ridley will begin rehabilitation today in hopes of returning to the football field as soon as possible.

“I’m going to rehab at 11 (a.m.),” Ridley said. “They’ll put me on a game ready machine which is compressed, cool water and also a machine that will improve my range of motion. I’ll also be on a machine that will contract my quad so I can get it back to where I can flex it good.”

Ridley tore his ACL during the second day of spring practice while running a drill in shorts and jerseys.

He made a sharp cut and felt his right knee give way beneath him.

Ridley, a redshirt sophomore, played mostly on special teams last year but did score a touchdown as a running back in LSU’s 35-10 win over Tulane.

Ridley is expected to be out until at least September.