Ouch. This is not good.

Carson Palmer’s knee injury was “devastating and potentially career-ending,” involving numerous ligament tears, a shredded ligament, damaged cartilage and a dislocated kneecap, his surgeon said Thursday.

Having torn my ACL, LCL and MCL all at once I can empathize. The therapy and rehab, which I was less than religious about, is the key.

Here’s to hoping Carson will be starting in week 1 of next season.

UPDATE: What a difference a day makes. Dr. Lonnie Paulos, the surgeon who operated on Carson, came forth to say that the whole “career-ending” talk was blown WAY out of proportion by the media. He clarified his earlier statements, saying:

I would consider this a typical ACL-MCL football injury. Comments attributed to me that the knee injury was ‘devastating and potentially career ending’ were meant to describe such injuries in general. I was accurately quoted by The Associated Press that my bottom line is optimism regarding Carson’s prognosis. With a successful rehabilitation program, he has an excellent chance of being medically cleared for play at the start of the 2006 regular season.

Doctor: Palmer knee injury ‘potentially career-ending’ [ESPN]