As Expected, Songaila's Injury Worse Than We Thought

The Washington Times is reporting that Darius Songaila could miss up to a month of the regular season with hisback injury that was nagging him prior to the start of training camp. According to John N. Mitchell, Songaila has a pinched nerve in his back suffered at the FIBA World Championships that hasn't gotten better.

Washington Wizards forward Darius Songaila could miss a month or more because of a nagging back injury, according to a source with knowledge of the situation...
The 6-foot-9 Songaila was expected to miss the start of the season. A source said yesterday the Wizards believe he "might be out for a significant block" of time, possibly beyond Thanksgiving.
When asked if Songaila, who was diagnosed with a pinched nerve in his back, would be ready to play when the Wizards opened the season in Cleveland on Nov. 1, the source said, "No way."

As I expected, the injury is worse than everyone thought. I've wondered why Songaila wasn't in there playing at all, because I remembered Ivan Carter reporting on the first day of training camp that the injury wasn't serious. This raises concerns about Songaila, because he doesn't exactly have the reputation as a durable player.

This in particular is very concerning.

The Wizards have been closely monitoring Songaila's rehabilitation. That rehab is not going well, a source said.
The inability to treat the injury has caused concerns that the injury might be more significant than originally thought. Surgery hasn't been discussed, however.
"Every time he gets his treatment he makes progress for a day or two and then he's right back at square one with all the pain," the source said. "The treatment hasn't been working and I expect that they're going to have to try something else on it."

Back injuries should never be treaded lightly, and this injury sounds a lot more serious than initially thought. This is a pretty big loss for the Wizards, because they're right where they were last year in terms of frontcourt depth. Songaila should hopefully get back by Thanksgiving, but in the meantime, Andray Blatche needs to grow up quickly in order to give the Wizards' frontcourt a shot in the arm. Hopefully, Etan Thomas can also continue to play solid minutes until Songaila gets back.

What's your take on the injury? How will it affect the Wizards in the early going?