John Wall injury: Wizards' PG says he experienced discomfort a month ago

In a conference call with reporters, Washington Wizards point guard John Wall said that he began experiencing discomfort in his knee a month ago, but did not learn the injury was serious until he went back for a second opinion on Thursday.

"I just kind of felt a little discomfort in it, so I took some time off," Wall said. "Then, I came back [to D.C.] and kept doing the things I was doing. [But] I just wanted to make sure I came into training camp totally healthy, so we decided to check it out [again]. When I checked it out, this was the news I got back from the doctor."

Wizards general manager Ernie Grunfeld said that Wall went to get an MRI three weeks ago that turned up negative, but a recent bout with bursitis convinced the Wizards, and Wall himself, that he needed to get his knee looked at one more time.

"We did an MRI on John about three weeks ago, and that MRI didn't show anything. Then, the bursitis situation came up," Grunfeld said. "John knows his body better than anybody, and he didn't feel quite right. So we decided to send him to the foremost doctor [to follow up]."

"I went and got an MRI, and when I did that when I felt the discomfort, there was nothing that showed up. It was just about getting healthy. Then, I wanted to re-check myself once again and it showed up," Wall said.

Wall is expected to miss eight weeks with a "stress" injury in his left knee, but coach Randy Wittman said that things could have been worse had they not taken extra precaution before the start of training camp.

"We're very lucky we took the precautionary steps to make sure nothing was there. We had thought bursitis or something like that, and we were lucky we came and saw it before it was any type of fracture. Those are the precautions we're taking."

Wall's rehab will consist mostly of "no-contact" kind of situations, Grunfeld said, rather than any sort of surgery.

In the short term, the Wizards will likely play A.J. Price and Shelvin Mack at point guard. Grunfeld said the Wizards will sign someone else "if the right player becomes available," but "we feel good about the players we have on the roster." Wittman also discussed possibly running more of the offense through Nene in the high post, assuming Nene is healthy. Both men were also asked about the new role of Bradley Beal, and Grunfeld indicated he may do more playmaking.

"He's going to have to learn the natural position of the two-guard," Grunfeld said. "But [everything] remains to be seen"

Despite the injury, Wittman still has high expectations for Wall and the team.

"I don't think [this changes expectations]," Wittman said. "I'm still positive about this team."