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Miami Dolphins Pro Bowl center Mike Pouncey spoke to the press at the NFL Owners Meeting Monday in South Florida. Pouncey confirmed that he had offseason surgery to fix his hip, a surgery that shaved down the bone on the opposite hip from a repair surgery he had in 2014.
Dolphins center Mike Pouncey says he had hip surgery right after the season ended
— Andrew Abramson (@AbramsonPBP) March 21, 2016
I just saw #Dolphins Pro Bowl C Mike Pouncey here at the owners meeting. He confirmed he had offseason hip surgery.
— James Walker (@JamesWalkerNFL) March 21, 2016
Mike Pouncey says surgery he recently underwent was for his hip.
— Armando Salguero (@ArmandoSalguero) March 21, 2016
Mike Pouncey says he'll be ready to practice when OTAs begin
— Andrew Abramson (@AbramsonPBP) March 21, 2016
Pouncey says surgery was on opposite hip he had repaired in 2014
— Andrew Abramson (@AbramsonPBP) March 21, 2016
Pouncey says he had bone shaved down. Not same hip as surgery in 2014. Ready for OTAs.
— Armando Salguero (@ArmandoSalguero) March 21, 2016
The good news is that Pouncey plans to be ready for Organized Team Activities (OTAs), which should begin next month. It is also good news that the surgery was to repair the opposite hip he previously injured.
That injury occurred during the team OTAs and minicamps, leading to a June surgery. Pouncey missed the first four games of the season, with Miami replacing him at center with free agent Samson Satele. When Pouncey returned, the team moved him to right guard, rather than pulling Satele out of the starting lineup. Pouncey, despite missing a quarter of the season, was selected to the Pro Bowl as a guard that year. He has also been selected to the Pro Bowl in 2013 and this past season as a center.
The bad news is that Pouncey had to have the surgery in the first place. He missed the last two games of the year after a foot injury sidelined him. Reports then indicated he had surgery for an injury, with an assumption that it was for his foot, but follow on reports denying surgery had been needed on the foot. Pouncey was forced to miss the Pro Bowl due to the hip surgery.
As long as Pouncey is ready for the regular season in September, something that does not seem to be in jeopardy, the real impact of the surgery on the team will be negligible. The coaches will likely look to bring Pouncey, who is entering his six year in the league after being Miami's first-round draft pick in 2011, along slowly during the spring and early training camp, just to make sure nothing re-aggravates the hip.
Pouncey posted this picture to Instagram shortly after having the operation: