New York Jets fans were hoping for a July 25 return date — the day training camp opens in SUNY Cortland for Gang Green — for their top receiving threat Santonio Holmes.
That idea has been jettisoned.
In an exclusive interview with the Jets fans interactive web show on July 12, Flight 5 Live, the former Super Bowl MVP remained non-committal — concerned, even — about returning to the field for the Jets in time for the 2013 season, let alone training camp.
“It isn’t easy coming back from this injury, but I honestly don’t know,” Holmes told Flight 5 on Friday. “I know [coming back in time for training camp] is what everybody is hoping for, but that’s not what it’s about. It’s about getting right in this rehab process, getting my foot moving right.”
Part of getting his foot moving right was just re-learning how to walk, a task which Holmes called “a staple in his rehab process”.
“It’s an injury that causes you to lose balance in your whole step of my big toe and other parts of my foot. You need that to be stable and play well at my position,” Holmes said.
Back in June Holmes revealed that the injury he suffered Week 4 of last season against the San Francisco was diagnosed as a grade four Lisfranc injury — the most severe of its kind — meaning it was a muscle-tear and joint separation in his mid-foot.
It was in that interview where Holmes set a target return date of July 25, the first day of training camp, which seemed rather ambitious considering he had yet to run and cut prior to making that statement.
Moments after he fell to the turf at Candlestick Park, Holmes knew he was going to have a long road back.
“I knew as soon as it happened I knew I wasn’t going to be able to play football,” Holmes said. “I don’t mean ever again, but at that moment I felt I was going to be playing for the rest of the season.”
Now Holmes, who’s always been prickly in regards to sharing himself with the media, has been noticeably open in detailing the severity of his ankle injury and just how hard he is working to get back on the field — specifically chronicling his rehabilitation on Twitter for the past two weeks.
Holmes’ uncertainty regarding his return follows the shadows of numerous other star athletes facing the pressure of returning early versus returning in the best interest of his health and family. Former NBA MVP and Bulls point guard Derrick Rose received similar media and fan pressure in returning from a torn ACL suffered in May of 2012 — he has still yet to play in a game.
Reigning NFL MVP Adrian Peterson tore his ACL and MCL on December 26, 2011 only to return in an inhuman-like eight months to come nine yards short of the single-season rushing record in 2012. Redskins’ rookie quarterback sensation Robert Griffin III is attempting a similar return after tearing his ACL and LCL on January 6, 2013 and is hoping not to miss training camp in the upcoming weeks.
For Rex Ryan, presumably on the head coaching chopping block this year, and the Jets, Holmes return flight to MetLife Stadium needs to come sooner than later.
Devoid of playmakers on offense, Holmes is expected to be the centerpiece and the catalyst for a passing game that’s been a model of inconsistency the past two seasons. The addition of Marty Mornhinweg’s uptempo West Coast offense could prove to be a step in the right direction, but without Holmes it’ll be hard to gauge just how good the Jets offense can be.
With potentially 11 new starters on offense and defense combined, re-building has been a term attached to the Jets in 2013. Having a Super Bowl pedigree with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Holmes knows what it takes a cohesive family to go the distance.
“I think it all starts with team chemistry. We have to get to know each other and be around each other as much as possible. I think you try to take the training camp feel and put that to use once the season starts. We have to be a group of a guys with the same goal in mind — and that’s to take what’s on the table, the Super Bowl.”
Team chemistry will be hard to build without the Jets eight-year veteran receiver any time soon.
