As the Boston Celtics gear up for a do-or-die Game 7 showdown against the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday night, all eyes are on Jayson Tatum—and not just for his scoring prowess. A former New England Patriots Super Bowl champion has sounded the alarm on the Celtics star's health, and it's a warning that should send chills through Boston fans.

Damien Woody, a two-time Super Bowl winner with the Patriots, took to ESPN's "Get Up" on Friday to share a deeply personal cautionary tale after Tatum exited Game 6 early with reported calf tightness. The Celtics forward was spotted with a wrap on his left leg and sat out the entire fourth quarter of that critical matchup. While it's not the same leg where Tatum suffered a ruptured Achilles last year, Woody believes the risk of a catastrophic injury is very real if he pushes too hard.

"I think you gotta be very careful if you're Jayson Tatum… I've experienced something like this," Woody explained. "I had a lower leg injury, my calf, and I had surgery on it. I came back earlier than I should have. The game I came back, it was a playoff game against the Indianapolis Colts, and I tore my Achilles. All because I was overcompensating for the prior injury that I had."

Woody's warning is rooted in a harsh reality familiar to athletes across all sports: when one part of the body is compromised, another often pays the price. For Tatum, that means if he's playing through a calf strain, he could be overcompensating with his other leg, putting his Achilles at serious risk. The history books are filled with cautionary examples—most recently, Tyrese Haliburton, who suffered a calf strain in Game 5 of the NBA Finals and tragically tore his Achilles in Game 7.

Woody didn't mince words about what the 76ers might do if Tatum takes the court less than 100 percent. "If I'm the Philadelphia 76ers, the first thing I'm going to do is test him. I'm going to run him around a bunch of screens. That's what we do in the NFL. We get an injury report, and we see a guy injured, you know what the first thing we're going to do? We're going to see if that guy's healthy."

As of now, it appears Tatum plans to suit up for Game 7. The exact severity of his injury remains unclear, and it's entirely possible this is nothing more than minor tightness that won't slow him down. But with the stakes at their highest and a trip to the next round on the line, the message from Woody is clear: be careful, Jayson. Because in the heat of a Game 7, the biggest opponent might not be the 76ers—it could be your own body.