Brandon Banks Released From Hospital: 'His Lung Is Fully Inflated'

As was hoped when he was transferred to Virginia Hospital Center on Tuesday, Washington Redskins receiver Brandon Banks went home on Friday. Banks was stabbed early last Saturday morning outside a nightclub in the nation's capital as he intervened in an altercation between his friend, Christopher Nixon, and the alleged assailant, Jason Shorter.

Banks, a surprising star return specialist as a rookie free agent in 2010, had a lung nicked during the attack, requiring a tube to be placed in his chest to help him breathe.

"The tube was removed from his chest and his lung is fully inflated," Banks' agent, James Gould, said in a statement released late Friday afternoon. "Brandon should be fully recovered and able to resume offseason training in three to four weeks. He will continue to follow up with Redskins team physician Dr. Anthony Casolaro throughout this process."

Banks was originally cared for after the stabbing at Howard University Hospital.

The NFL's smallest player at 5-foot-7 and 155 pounds, Banks loomed large on special teams for the Redskins last season. He finished ninth in the NFL with an 11.3-yard punt return average and 12th with a 25.1-yard kickoff return average. The only other players to rank in the top dozen in both categories were fellow rookie Marc Mariani of Tennessee, Detroit's Stefan Logan and Seattle veteran Leon Washington.

Other than Chad Morton in 2003, Banks was the first Redskin to lead the team in both punt and kickoff returns since NFL career return yardage leader Brian Mitchell ended his nine-year run of double duty in Washington in 1999. Banks' punt return average was the Redskins' highest in nine years and his kickoff return average was topped only three times during the previous 14 seasons.