Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman has admitted he’s not completely back to football shape
Johnthan Banks Jersey , but he got back on the field last night.
Edelman played 16 snaps in last night’s preseason debut, though he wasn’t targeted by any passes from backup quarterback Brian Hoyer. It was his first
game action since last year’s torn ACL.
“It just was fun, the nerves were juiced and I was just excited to get out there and get to play football,” Edelman sai, via Karen Guregian of the
Boston Herald. “It was just good to get out there and hit guys and have guys around you cutting on turf. It was definitely a fun step.”
The coming back from the ACL may take some more time, though he does have an extra month to get well.
He’ll miss the first four regular season games after his suspension for violating the league’s policy on performance enhancing substances.
Andrew Luck said all the right things Monday.
He feels good, hopes to be full go when training camp begins and believes he will be a better overall quarterback when he returns.
All he has to do now is prove it.
For the first time in more than three months
Jalen Ramsey Jersey , Luck fielded questions from local reporters about his surgically repaired right shoulder and explained his longer-than-expected
recovery might have been at least partially the result of his desire to come
back too quickly.
"I think I pushed a little too hard at times. Your body, as I'm learning, will tell you no at certain times and you just have to listen to it," Luck said
as the Indianapolis Colts started their offseason work.
"I've gone and skipped steps before and paid for it. Been in pain and not able to help the team. Embarrassed, guilty, whatever. I'm not going to do that
again."
Luck didn't go into specifics about what he would, could or should have done differently after initially hurting the shoulder in September 2015.
He missed the next two games then made four straight starts before suffering a season-ending liver injury in November.
Luck opted against surgery that offseason and instead wound up signing a five-year
Duke Johnson Jersey , $140 million contract extension.
In 2016, he started 15 games and had his best statistical season despite continued pain. But he hasn't taken a snap since having surgery for a partially
torn labrum in January 2017, and he still isn't throwing regulation-sized
footballs. He's been limited to working only with miniature footballs this
offseason.
Still, it's progress. And it's a far cry from last October when Luck's throwing regimen suddenly stopped because of continued shoulder soreness.
He spent the next month seeking additional medical opinions before moving his rehab to Europe.
Luck finally returned to the team facility in late December and has spent most of the past three months working out in California with noted quarterback
experts Tom House and Adam Dedeaux.
The good news is Luck says he's feeling much more confident in his recovery.
"If I wasn't making progress, it would freak me out and we would have to change something. But I am," he said. "I'm feeling better."
The bad news: Fans have heard all this before.
Whenever Luck gets back, he will be working with a vastly different supporting cast.
New head coach Frank Reich will be calling the plays. Running back Frank Gore and receiver Donte Moncrief left in free agency and receiver Phillip Dorsett was
traded to New England for Jacoby Brissett
Anthony Castonzo Jersey , who started the final 15 games for Indy last season.
Luck might have a slightly different look, too.
"I wouldn't say I'm changing my throwing motion," he said. "And that's a big part of what I've been working on, making sure I'm using my body as effectively
as possible to throw a football and not over- or under-compensate in any
way."
Some of the Colts' newcomers, such as recently signed free agent Eric Ebron, chose Indy because they believe Luck will be better than ever.
"He was the reason I came here, to keep it honest
Michael Roberts Jersey ," said Ebron, a tight end. "It doesn't matter as much where I played, I wanted a quarterback who would work with me the way that
I knew I needed him to work with me."
When exactly Ebron and Luck will start working out together remains unclear.
While acknowledging there now is a timetable for his progression, he's keeping it confidential for now.
But the biggest difference between this year's offseason workouts and last year's is that Luck sounds more confident about himself and his shoulder.
"I feel stronger, I feel more fit," he said. "I feel way more confident in myself and I don't look at my shoulder and say 'why are you failing me?' like
the guy in 'The Old Man and the Sea.' I feel like I have a bit more grasp of the
situation. There is still a bit of a journey left and I'm not going to skip any
steps."
NOTE: The Colts have put receiver Rodney Adams on the reserve-retired list. Adams was a fifth-round draft pick out of South Florida in 2017.
Jalen Brunson Jersey
