Sources: Doctors optimistic Daniel Fells won't lose foot from infection

Doctors treating New York Giants tight end Daniel Fells for MRSA are more optimistic than they were a few days ago that Fells won't lose his foot, sources close to the situation said Tuesday.

Fells remains in a New York hospital for the foreseeable future as he and his doctors work to fight off the staph infection he contracted in his foot two weeks ago.

Sources with knowledge of Fells' situation confirmed to ESPN that he has undergone five surgical procedures, with more scheduled, in an effort to stop the infection from spreading, but that doctors are hopeful his current course of antibiotics can continue to have the positive effect it has had over the past few days.

As recently as two days ago, one source said, Fells' doctors were concerned that they might have to amputate his foot in order to stop the infection from spreading and save his life. But Fells' response to the most recent combination of antibiotics has made them optimistic that they won't have to do that.

NFL.com reported Sunday that Fells had undergone five surgeries, and that doctors were fighting to save his foot.

Fells is in an ICU unit with a dedicated nurse, and his wife has been by his side throughout his ordeal. Family members flew in last week from California to stay with the couple's young children (ages 4 and 2). He's being treated with antibiotic beads packed into his foot as well as with IV antibiotics.

MRSA, which stands for methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, is resistant to most antibiotics, so doctors have to work to find the right combination of antibiotics to fight it off.

The surgeries Fells has endured so far include procedures to scrape the infection out of the bone, which has resulted in some bone loss. Doctors have worked to remove the infection from his foot as well as his tibia after some of it spread up into his leg.

Fells' NFL career is almost certainly over at the age of 32, though that's obviously not the primary concern for him or anyone close to him at this point.

The Giants dedicated Sunday night's victory to Fells, and the team presented him with a game ball via Skype from their Monday morning meeting. Fells tweeted the team good luck from his hospital bed Sunday night, and coach Tom Coughlin and others from the team have visited him in the hospital.