ArticleOrthopaedic journal of sports medicine2026
Return to Play, Performance, and Career Longevity After Shoulder Labral Repair in the National Football League: A Matched Cohort Analysis.
Article in Orthopaedic journal of sports medicine, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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10 authors.
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Abstract
Background: Shoulder instability and labral pathology are common in National Football League (NFL) players, yet contemporary return-to-play (RTP), return-to-performance (RTPf), and postreturn career longevity outcomes after surgical labral repair are incompletely characterized. Purpose: To (1) describe RTP timing and rates after surgical labral repair, (2) quantify season-to-season changes in usage and performance versus matched controls, and (3) evaluate post-RTP career longevity. Study Design: Cohort study; Level of evidence, 3. Methods: Using publicly available NFL data (2015-2024), 111 labral repair episodes were identified and indexed to surgery date. RTP was defined as the first in-game snap after surgery, with rates summarized at 2, 6, 12 and 24 months and overall (ever RTP). For RTPf, episodes required ≥100 snaps in both a preindex season (T1) and a first post-RTP season (M1); 60 cases met criteria and were matched 1:2 to 120 controls by season and position group, with additional matching on age and T1 snap rate. Changes from T1→M1 (and T1→M2 when available) were compared between groups. Outcomes included usage (games, total snaps, snaps/game) and Pro Football Focus (PFF) season grades. Career longevity post-RTP was assessed using Kaplan-Meier and stratified Cox models. Results: Among 111 episodes, defensive backs (25.2%) and offensive linemen (21.6%) were the most common position groups. Overall, 86.5% returned at a median 265 days (IQR, 234-316); 3.6% returned within 6 months, 73.9% within 1 year, and 84.7% within 2 years. In the matched RTPf cohort (60 cases; 120 controls), usage changes from T1→M1 did not differ (all Conclusion: NFL players undergoing isolated labral repair demonstrated high RTP rates with preserved postreturn workload and career longevity versus matched controls. However, defensive players showed a sustained reduction in performance grades through 2 postreturn seasons, suggesting that RTP may not uniformly translate to RTPf and may vary by position.
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