Procedure repaired damage to MCL

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Star tailback Fred Taylor, who missed the final two games of the Jacksonville Jaguars' season because of a left knee injury, has undergone arthroscopic knee surgery to repair damage to the medial collateral ligament.

Arguably the centerpiece of the Jacksonville offense, Taylor will likely require about two months of rehabilitation but is expected to be able to participate in most, if not all, of the team's offseason program. In a release, the team termed the surgery "a success" and said that Taylor will make a full recovery.

The surgery was performed by noted South Florida orthopedist John Uribe, who often treats the clientele of agent Drew Rosenhaus, who represents Taylor. Although he has performed numerous knee surgeries, Uribe is most recently noted as the orthopedist who repaired the catastrophic knee damage to Buffalo Bills tailback Willis McGahee.

Taylor, who will turn 29 next week, was bothered at various times during the '04 season by knee problems but still started 14 games and rushed for 1,224 yards on 260 carries. It marked his fifth 1,000-yard performance in seven league seasons. The former Florida star also had 36 receptions for 345 yards.

Sitting out the final two games of the year, after the knee problem became too acute to continue playing, snapped Taylor's streak of 46 consecutive starts.

In the first four years of his NFL tenure, Taylor literally missed 1½ seasons' worth of games -- 24 in all -- to a variety of injuries. But he was a model of consistency and good health starting in 2002. Taylor started all 16 games in both 2002 and '03 and the first 14 contests of 2004.

The Jaguars' first-round pick in the 1998 draft, Taylor has carried 1,637 times for 7,580 yards and 48 touchdowns. One of the NFL's best receivers out of the backfield, he also has 225 catches for 1,880 yards and seven scores. He has appeared in 86 games and has started 82 of them.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com. To check out Len's chat archive, click here .

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