For the first time in nearly 16 months Minnesota Vikings receiver Greg Childs was on a football field practicing with his team. On August 4, 2012, Childs went up for a pass in the team's annual scrimmage. He came down awkwardly and knew right away. He had torn the patellar tendon in each of his knees. He had been through this before. He had torn the patellar tendon in his right knee while at Arkansas. A likely first round pick before the injury. He slid to the Vikings in the fourth round of the 2012 NFL Draft. While he played his final college season, he was still working to get back to where he was before the injury. After that 2012 training camp injury he was back to zero. Actually, he was even further back. No one has ever come back from patellar tendon tears in each knee and played in an NFL game. Childs never lost faith that he'd be the first.
"I'm going to eventually get on the playing field. I don't know when. It could be the end of the season or it could be the beginning of the next," Childs said. "But it's going to be one of the two."
Greg Childs has been a Vikings weight room fixture for the past year. Through the winter. Through the offseason. His focus and dedication has him on the brink of doing what has never been done.
"I'm excited for him," quarterback Christian Ponder said. "he's been working his butt off for a year now, over a year. I know he's excited to get out there. We'll see what he does. But just watching him run around, he looks good. He looks fast. He's in shape."
Childs showed his progress on Wednesday. Running, cutting, jumping, sprinting. He ran through routes with the receivers. Most importantly, he didn't suffer any setbacks after the workout.
"Basically I start with just practicing every day, doing more in practice every single day. Never going back but just adding more and more to my plate," Childs said.
Childs had been on the Physically Unable to Perform. Per league PUP rules, Childs had to be ready for practices this week. The Vikings informed the league that he was ready. The Vikings would then have 21 days for Childs to practice before they need to activate him, put him on season-ending injured reserve, or release him. That clock started on Monday.
The return of Greg Childs to the practice field is perhaps the best Vikings news in this very frustrating season. His return is certainly not complete. Only the games really count but Childs is on his way. At 6'3" and 217 lbs, he could provide the big, deep threat receiver that the Vikings have missed since Sidney Rice bolted for Seattle. He has unique skills. If he can return to the form that he showed before his injury in college, the Vikings would have a nice group of young receivers moving forward in Childs, Cordarrelle Patterson, and Childs' childhood friend and college teammate Jarius Wright.
Welcome back, Greg Childs.
No comments:
Post a Comment