Eagles DT Patterson Has Brain Condition
BETHLEHEM, Pa. (AP) -- Eagles trainer Rick Burkholder said defensive tackle Mike Patterson has a brain condition that may require surgery.
Burkholder said Thursday morning that Patterson is undergoing further tests. The 28-year-old Patterson was hospitalized after suffering a seizure Wednesday morning at training camp at Lehigh University.
"In medicine today, there's tons of options," Burkholder said. "Everybody wants to jump right into surgery and I'm not saying for this particular case, I'm saying with everything, but there's so many other avenues out there. It would be foolish to speculate what's going to happen to Mike."
The 6-foot-1, 300-pound Patterson has been diagnosed with arteriovenous malformation (AVM), which is the tangling of blood vessels near the skull.
"We're pretty sure it's what caused the seizure and we're pretty sure it's not football related," Burkholder said. "It just so happened at football practice. It could've happened anywhere."
The trainer said Patterson is on medication to prevent another seizure, and anticipates he'll be released from the hospital Thursday.
It's unknown when or if Patterson will return to the Eagles.
On Wednesday, Patterson dropped to the ground between drills during a morning practice, and the player began violently shaking. He was immediately tended to by Burkholder and his staff, with assistance from rookie Danny Watkins, a trained firefighter, and taken by ambulance to Lehigh Valley Hospital.
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