This soft tissue also acts as a shock or stress absorber. Thus, less pain for the patella. The ligaments and tendons may not be a main factor in patellofemoral syndrome, but they have a huge role in the makeup of the knee. The ligaments are another type of soft tissue. They hold the bones to other bones to form the joint.
Tendons also help hold things together, connecting muscles to bones.
Without the tendons the quadriceps muscle would not be able to function with the femur bone. Without the lateral ligaments, the femur bone and the tibia bone would not be able to for the knee joint.