Edwards Misses 1999 Season

New England Patriots running back Robert Edwards will miss the 1999 season after injuring his knee during a beach flag football game, the team announced Friday.

Edwards, a rookie who rushed for 1,115 yards this season, dislocated his left knee on Feb. 5 while playing in a Pro Bowl weekend event on Waikiki Beach in Hawaii. He was released from a hospital in Hawaii on Thursday and was examined Friday by team doctors in Boston.

"This is a very serious knee injury," Dr. Bertram Zarins, the team doctor, said in a statement. "He will definitely miss the 1999 season. His ability to play football again will depend upon the recovery of the nerve function and will require extensive rehabilitation."

While in Hawaii, Edwards had surgery to repair damage done to an artery in his left leg. On Friday, the results of an MRI -- magnetic resonance imagaing -- scan confirmed that the knee dislocation had torn three of the four major knee ligaments.

Because of nerve damage, Edwards is unable to move his foot, Zarins said.

Edwards is scheduled to have surgery on Tuesday in Boston. The surgery is to repair damaged ligaments and assess the extent of nerve damage to his left knee.

"This is a devastating blow to a young man who was just at the beginning of a very promising professional career," Patriots coach Pete Carroll said.

Edwards, a Patriots first-round draft pick, was hurt in the "Rookie Beach Bowl" one of the activities leading up to Sunday's Pro Bowl. Edwards wasn't on the AFC team, but went to Hawaii to play in the beach football game and participate in other Pro Bowl functions.

© 1999 SportsLine USA, Inc. All rights reserved