Bears TE Zach Miller Has Successful Surgery in Effort to Save Injured Leg
Chicago Bears tight end Zach Miller underwent a successful emergency surgery Sunday as efforts continue to save his left leg that was injured in Sunday's game against the New Orleans Saints, the Bears announced. ESPN.com's Chris Mortensen was the first to report on Miller's surgery.
The team said the surgery was performed to repair a damaged artery in Miller's leg after he dislocated his knee. Mortensen reports that Miller's popliteal artery in his left knee was "shredded from above the knee joint to below the knee" and that a vascular surgical team performed a saphenous vein graft to "revascularlize" Miller's leg. There is also orthopedic damage to Miller's knee, Per Mortensen.
Miller was injured in the third quarter of Chicago's 20–12 loss to the Saints after a Miller made a 25-yard touchdown catch in the end zone. That play was eventually overturned on replay.
Miller's surgery called for vascular specialists to be called in to repair the damage to his leg.
Miller, 33, has 20 catches for 236 yards and two touchdowns this season for Chicago.