During an otherwise nondescript offseason practice session two weeks ago, Washington Redskins middle linebacker Jeremiah Trotter sauntered onto the field to gently test-drive his surgically repaired right knee, jogged linearly a bit without grimacing, and proclaimed that the rehabilitation of the once-squeaky hinge is notably ahead of schedule.
That the simple yet significant act occurred less than seven full months after the knee had exploded in the Thanksgiving Day matchup at Dallas -- rupturing the anterior cruciate and lateral collateral ligaments and shredding some cartilage -- was dramatic enough. That it came more than six months before Dec. 25 was certainly not lost on George Edwards, the Redskins' first-year defensive coordinator.
"Seeing him back out there," said Edwards, "was kind of like coming down the steps on Christmas morning having a new bicycle sitting underneath the tree."
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| Priest Holmes has rushed for 3,170 yards over the last two seasons. |
In many NFL precincts, players who missed significant time in 2002 or who finished the season on injured reserve, have sufficiently recovered and already demonstrated that they will be ready for action when training camps open next month. In some others, however, the anxiety is akin to the feeling kids used to get in the pits of their stomachs when they reached into their stockings, wondering if Santa left a surprise or just a lump of coal.
Just as injuries are a component of every season, the rehabilitation process is an element of every spring, and this is the time of year when some coaches still fret over whether the ultimate resolution to a key player's ailment will be knotty or nice.
In the Kansas City Chiefs front office, for instance, concern over the readiness of tailback Priest Holmes is a painful and ongoing vigil. Not since the Bo Jackson injury, or maybe even since Elvis Presley first appeared on the prime time stage of the Ed Sullivan Show, gyrating his pelvis in a suggestive manner that caused network censors to squirm uneasily, has a hip been so meticulously monitored.
And little wonder.
Holmes is hardly a one-man offense but, given his performance over a two-season stretch in which he was the NFL's premier all-around back, he certainly is the linchpin of one of its most explosive attacks. Since being plucked from the free agent bargain basement on Draft Day '01, the onetime Baltimore Ravens afterthought has registered 4,456 combined yards from scrimmage, scored 34 touchdowns and earned a pair of Pro Bowl selections.
Fueling the angst surrounding Holmes, who missed the final two outings of the season and subsequently underwent surgery on his right hip, are a spate of disparate and clouded reports about his recovery.
While team president Carl Peterson, agent Todd France and even Holmes himself, declare the star runner will be ready for camp practices, there seems no guarantee at this point. It could simply be blind faith (a commodity any guy named Priest is sure to possess in large doses), and not the latest orthopedic reports, doing most of the talking. Even perennially optimistic coach Dick Vermeil occasionally waffles, if one reads closely enough between the lines, on Holmes' status.
The Chiefs are well-coached, possess one of the most stable and able front offices in the league, have an offense capable of short-circuiting any scoreboard, and made some key free agency acquisitions to bolster a defense that ranked statistically as the NFL's worst in 2002. But if The Priest isn't in the lineup, Kansas City might not have a prayer of ending a postseason drought that has now reached five seasons.
The six other tailbacks on the current roster have combined for zero regular-season starts, 72 yards and no touchdowns. Underrated fullback Tony Richardson has proven effective in "ace" formations, and the plan is to deploy him that way again in '03, but there is a big difference between playing the occasional role of one-back and having to function as the one and only back.
Kansas City has other notable players coming off injuries as well -- wide receivers Marvin Minnis and Sylvester Morris, safety Jerome Woods, 2002 first-round defensive tackle Ryan Sims among them -- but the health of all those key performers still pales compared to what Holmes means to the Chiefs' condition in 2003.
Noted offensive coordinator Al Saunders last month: "Nothing against my wife and kids … but (Holmes) is the most important person in my life right now."
Holmes is hardly, of course, the only question mark commanding exclamation point-type concerns during this relative lull period leaguewide. In training rooms, facilities and even physicians' offices around the NFL, there are critical updates and re-checks occurring on a daily basis. And those evaluations, and the ongoing rehabilitations of players limited by injuries in 2002, will become exponentially more vital as camp start-up dates near.
"This is a time when the importance of your medical and training staffs is magnified," acknowledged Chicago Bears general manager Jerry Angelo. "Those people are always important to you. But in the final stages of rehabilitation, the period we're in right now, they can make an even bigger difference for you."
And a Bears team whose victory total slipped by a perilous nine games in '02, and whose management staff may need a rebound campaign to remain employed in Chicago, likely comprehends that even more so than most franchises. Just with four key players alone in 2002 -- offensive linemen Rex Tucker and Marc Colombo, linebacker Warrick Holdman and defensive tackle Ted Washington -- the Bears lost 43 starts last season.
More than 150 players, in excess of five per franchise, finished 2002 on injured reserve. And the I.R. roll call, stocked with some high-profile names, only begins to document the negative body count around the league. Many of those players, including Trotter, have yet to be cleared for unmonitored work in training camps.
Such decisions will be made in the ensuing month and here is a thumbnail look at some of the other key situations not mentioned above, all involving prime players who missed significant time to injury during the 2002 season, which merit scrutiny:
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| Warner |
QB Kurt Warner, St. Louis: Limited to six starts by thumb, hand (and some still insist shoulder) injuries, the two-time NFL most valuable player threw just three touchdown passes but accounted for 17 turnovers. The reports this spring are promising and Warner underwent extensive medical testing in the offseason that revealed no major problems. The Rams, however, are a franchise in flux. If it turns out that Warner is a quarterback stuck in career transition, St. Louis could have a problem.
MLB Ray Lewis, Baltimore: That the Ravens hung around in playoff contention into the final week of the season, coming in a year when past salary cap excesses forced a painful roster purge, was admirable. That they did so without Lewis, whose shoulder injury kept him out of 11 contests, was nothing shy of remarkable. Lewis is this team's spiritual and physical leader, the rare player with the capacity to will his team to victory, and if he can return to form, the Ravens could be a handful in 2003. Lewis has worked in minicamps, but don't be surprised if the staff keeps the reins on him a bit early in camp.
OTs Chad Clifton and Mark Tauscher, Green Bay: The Packers starters logged less than eight full quarters together in 2002 and, while rehabilitating arduously this spring, neither is likely to be full-go for the start of camp. Tauscher is coming off a torn ACL and Clifton still is recovering from the hip injury suffered when Warren Sapp of Tampa Bay cheap-shotted him during an interception return. An aging Brett Favre doesn't want to have to play behind the unheralded tandem of Jerry Wisne and Kevin Barry.
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| Kearse |
DE Jevon Kearse, Tennessee: He injured his left foot in the season opener, appeared in just four games and registered only one start and two sacks in 2002. Offseason surgery to insert a screw designed to promote healing seems to have gone well and Kearse began light jogging this week. But the Titans need Kearse, who averaged 12 sacks over the first three seasons in the league, healthy and back on the field for several reasons. Foremost, he is the catalyst for an otherwise ordinary pass rush. But he also counts $4.875 million against the cap-strapped Titans' spending limit and the only way to reduce that charge is to extend his contract. Tennessee officials aren't about to take that gamble until they are convinced Kearse is completely recovered.
OT Tony Boselli, Houston: The composition of the Texans offensive line depends on the condition of the onetime perennial Pro Bowl performer who, over the last two years, has had more shoulder surgeries (four) than starts (three). Having Boselli back in the starting lineup at left tackle would provide much-needed peace of mind for second-year quarterback David Carr, sacked a league-record 76 times in a painful rookie campaign. While he has done some non-contact work this spring, even Boselli concedes that he still has a long way to go.
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| Brown |
DE Courtney Brown, Cleveland: The latest setback for the first overall player chosen in the 2000 draft is microfracture surgery on his knee, a procedure that probably will limit him to just individual drills for at least the first week of camp. Coach Butch Davis is fast losing patience with Brown, who has missed 16 games in three seasons, and who has only 11 sacks in his career. Brown is headed toward first-round bust territory and this clearly is a make or break season for the former Penn State star.
DE Derrick Burgess and DT Hollis Thomas, Philadelphia: Even after two surgeries to repair the fractured foot he suffered in the 2002 opener, third-year veteran Burgess isn't back to full speed yet, although he began some running last week. The loss of right end Hugh Douglas in free agency makes the return of Burgess all but imperative for an Eagles defense that really does not have a proven outside pass rusher. Thomas, who missed the entire season with a foot injury, is Philadelphia's best run-stuffer. The return of tailback Correll Buckhlater, who missed all of last season after a severe knee injury in mini-camp, is also key for this team. Starter Duce Staley has boycotted workouts, might miss camp because he wants his contract to be revisited, and Buckhalter is a player the coaches feel strongly about.
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| Brooks |
QB Aaron Brooks, New Orleans: The Saints trigger man didn't miss any starts in '02 but management's insistence his shoulder problems were incidental proved to be empty rhetoric when he underwent offseason surgery. The four-year veteran has lobbed the ball in workouts but hasn't really cut loose yet.
DT Jamal Williams, San Diego: One of the league's most underrated but effective inside players, especially versus the run, has missed 17 games the last two years because of knee (2001) and ankle (2002) injuries. His absence helps explain why the Chargers defense has slipped the last couple seasons. Getting him back is a must because he is a solid player on the field and high-character guy off it.
CB Phillip Buchanon, Oakland: One of the Raiders' two first-round choices in 2002, the former University of Miami star was just beginning to hit his stride as a playmaker when a wrist injury sidelined him for the final 10 contests. Buchanan is a potential "shut down" corner and explosive return specialist. His recovery takes on even more significance since fellow corner Charles Woodson is starting to make loud noises about wanting a contract extension in place soon.
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| McFarland |
DT Anthony McFarland, Tampa Bay: There are some observers who feel "Booger" has supplanted Warren Sapp as the Bucs' premier interior defender. But a broken arm and then a foot injury cost McFarland six starts in the team's Super Bowl season. The Bucs' staff did a nice cut-and-paste job to compensate for his absences, but McFarland can be a special player when healthy, and Tampa Bay will need him.
OG Larry Allen, Dallas: Even though he appears to be a player in decline at this point in his career, Allen is a key on and off the field for Bill Parcells, and the centerpiece of a unit that was the league's most shuffled set of blockers in 2002. At one time regarded as the NFL's premier blocker at any line position, Allen played in just five games because of an ankle injury.
DE Marcus Jones, Buffalo: Forgot the former Tampa Bay starter was even still around? The Bills, who gambled that he might return to form and signed him late in the '02 season after he was released by the Bucs, certainly haven't. They took a chance that Jones, who did not play a single down in 2002, could become a viable contributor again. For a team seeking a complement to right end Aaron Schobel, the dice could come up "seven" or snake-eyes at this point, but the reports are that Jones is making progress.
LB Jamie Winborn, San Francisco: An emerging force at the "plugger" linebacker spot, a key to the San Francisco defense, the former second-round choice appeared in just three games in 2002 because of a knee injury. Winborn is a smart and instinctive player, a guy who performs bigger than his size, and his rehabilitation seems to be on schedule.
Len Pasquarelli is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.
