Columbus Crew’s Kevin Molino to miss 6-8 weeks after knee surgery

Lee ForbesMarch 22, 2023

Team forward Kevin Molino is expected to miss six to eight weeks after undergoing knee surgery, the team announced on Tuesday.

Molino, 32, has torn his anterior cruciate ligament three times in his career, most recently in August 2021. He missed almost a year recovering from this injury, a second right anterior cruciate ligament tear after the first tear in 2015, and also tore his left cruciate ligament in 2018. He also missed 10 games at the start of the 2021 season with a hamstring injury, with concerns raised at the time that the injury was related to his previous injuries.

Returning from a third major knee injury, Molino played 11 games for a total of 441 minutes for the team in the second half of last season and scored one goal. Since signing with the Crew ahead of the 2021 season, Molino has made 25 appearances and played just 1,032 minutes, including three matches totaling 16 minutes this season.

Molino was listed on the injury report as questionable due to a knee injury ahead of the Crew’s game against the New York Red Bulls on Saturday. He had an operation, a meniscectomy, Friday afternoon. A meniscectomy is done to treat a torn meniscus cartilage and the torn part of the meniscus is removed.

This injury is not as severe as Molino’s three previous ACL ruptures, but given his history of serious knee injuries, having another knee operation while Molino suffered from knee problems in recent years is a concern at this point in his career.

If Molino recovers within the expected time frame, the earliest game he can return to will be against Inter Miami on May 29.

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@BaileyAJohnson_