North Carolina State University Athletics
McLendon To Have Surgery on Wrist
9/29/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
Updated Sept. 30, 2002
Wolfpack Ranked 14th in Coaches Poll
By Tony Haynes
Raleigh, N.C.-After further evaluation by the NC State sports medicine staff, NC State tailback T.A. McLendon has been scheduled to undergo wrist surgery on Tuesday morning. The doctors will insert a screw to stabilize the fracture of the scaphoid bone in his right wrist. If the surgery goes as planned, he should be back in practice early next week.
McLendon's wrist was hurting following a violent collision with a Massachusetts defender on Saturday afternoon. But the second quarter injury didn't stop NC State's freshman running back from rushing for 117 yards and two touchdowns in the Pack's 56-24 victory over the Minutemen. A precautionary x-ray on the wrist after the game came up negative. On Sunday, however, the results of an MRI showed that McLendon had broken the scaphoid bone, a small peanut-sized bone in the wrist joint.
McLendon got his first start on Saturday after tying a school record with five rushing touchdowns in the Wolfpack's overtime win at Texas Tech on September 21. Along with putting together back-to-back 100-yard rushing performances, the Albemarle native has also scored 10 touchdowns in five games. He did not play at Navy because of a shoulder injury.
"He was sore this morning and so we went and got an MRI," Amato said on Sunday.
Also on Sunday, Amato said he was quite confident that Dantonio Burnette would be ready to go against the Tar Heels. The senior middle linebacker missed the Massachusetts game after undergoing surgery to repair a broken thumb. The status of center Jed Paulsen is still up in the air. Paulsen has been out of action since injuring his knee at Navy.
"He got a little work last week," Amato said. "We tried to get him in some drills where there weren't any bodies falling around him. He feels good about the knee. We'll bring him along a little bit more this week than last week. Hopefully he'll be ready to go."
Brandon Sanders has started at center in NC State's last three games.
