Haynesworth's history of summer knee maintenance

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By Tom E. Curran
CSNNE.com Patriots InsiderFollow @tomecurran

FOXBORO - Albert Haynesworth missed practice for the second consecutive day on Saturday, but he will not miss practice on Sunday. There is none. Haynesworth's absence, while not addressed by Bill Belichick (media was offered offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien and receivers coach Chad O'Shea as featured speakers), bears watching. But it doesn't invite panic. The 30-year-old Haynesworth is in his 10th NFL season. He weighs around 330 pounds. He has, according to a Washington Post story from 2009, had injections of a joint lubricant called Synvisc in his left knee every summer dating back to his final two seasons in Tennessee.Said Haynesworth back in 2009, "It's nothing new for me," Haynesworth said. The shot, he said, "really does help. Your body produces this stuff, and it just gives me more, and it gives me more lubricant around the knee."Around this time last year, Haynesworth was dealing with a sore knee that needed an MRIThat, of course, turned into the Shanahan vs. Haynesworth Showdown Sideshow over the team's conditioning run. That situation - and Haynesworth's entire Redskins tenure - muddied the water around Haynesworth so thoroughly that now any missed practice or absence carries a whiff of dread that the same thing may be kicking up again. In all likelihood, though, the only thing that's kicking up in Haynesworth's knee and the need to take it easy on it.With the lockout eliminating offseason conditioning programs and Haynesworth persona non grata with Washington, it's exceedingly likely he didn't get a lot of maintenance work done before coming to New England. It's a pretty safe bet that he's currently in the shop.
Tom E. Curran can be reached at tcurran@comcastsportsnet.com. Follow Tom on Twitter at http:twitter.comtomecurran.

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