The offseason conditioning programs that currently are in full bloom throughout the NFL aren’t supposed to present injury risks to players.

But then there are the Arizona Cardinals.

According to the Arizona Republic, starting nose tackle Gabe Watson recently fractured a knee cap when he fell down.  While running on a treadmill.

Watson underwent surgery to repair the fracture, and the team is optimistic that he’ll be back to 100 percent by the start of the 2008 regular season.  At this point, however, it’s not clear whether he’ll be ready for camp.

The injury didn’t occur at the team’s facilities, but at a local health club where Watson was working out after working out with the club.

“The thing that’s disappointing is that Gabe has shown such great progress and he’s getting it,” coach Ken Whisenhunt said.  “Just the fact that he was working to get himself in shape after he had done his workout here is a testament to him.”

Watson will be replaced in the starting lineup by Alan Branch, his former teammate at Michigan.