Joe Alt Listed Questionable Post-Ankle Surgery — Tracking Recovery

Joe Alt, offensive lineman for the Los Angeles Chargers, is tracking a post-surgical right ankle recovery and carries a Questionable designation. For an OL, a Questionable tag following ankle surgery carries meaningful weight — linemen tolerate pain well, but surgical sites require adequate healing before absorbing the axial and rotational loads of NFL line play.

Classification: LIG or BON/TEN (right ankle, post-surgical) / Grade 3 (surgical — INFERRED from post-surgery language) / LE — Axis 3 lower extremity. Evidence Tier: T2 — Moderate Confidence. Specific surgical procedure not publicly confirmed; tissue type and exact structure(s) involved are INFERRED from "post-surgery" reporting language, not confirmed by imaging or official clinical disclosure. Grade 3 (surgical) applied given confirmed operative intervention.

The biological floor for a surgically managed ankle ligament or structural ankle injury is 3–5+ months for functional RTP; given this is a tracking update rather than an acute event, the timeline from surgery date governs — not the original injury date. The Questionable designation suggests Alt may be approaching functional clearance thresholds, but surgical healing continues beyond functional readiness. For an OL absorbing high axial and valgus loads on every snap, any residual instability at a surgical ankle site is clinically relevant and warrants conservative framing.