This year in the NFL a number of players are returning from injury or trying to bounce back from an awful statistical year. After the first week here are my opinions of 5 players that are out to prove doubters wrong.
#1: My boy, Adrian Peterson, the workhorse tore his ACL and MCL during a victory over the Washington Redskins last season. After a rigorous offseason workout regimen AP told everyone he would be ready for week one. I hate to say it but even I was a little skeptical of someone returning to play just 8 and a half months removed from major knee surgery. But of course AP surprised even me and came back in week 1 to rush for 84 yards on 17 carries. Not to mention a couple touchdowns. Not a bad start to a season for a player who many doubted would even start the season. I expect Peterson to improve more and more each week as he approaches 100%.
#2: Jamal Charles is another running back that I enjoyed watching; last year he to suffered an injury to his ACL during week 2. Although he had more time to recover from his injury than AP, I was skeptical how he would look during week 1 of the 2012 season. During a week one loss against the Atlanta Falcons Charles showed us that although he is not 100% recovered from his injury it is clear that his reconstructed knee is holding up just fine. Charles had a few nice runs showing that he could cut and burst close to what he was capable of in the past.
#1: My boy, Adrian Peterson, the workhorse tore his ACL and MCL during a victory over the Washington Redskins last season. After a rigorous offseason workout regimen AP told everyone he would be ready for week one. I hate to say it but even I was a little skeptical of someone returning to play just 8 and a half months removed from major knee surgery. But of course AP surprised even me and came back in week 1 to rush for 84 yards on 17 carries. Not to mention a couple touchdowns. Not a bad start to a season for a player who many doubted would even start the season. I expect Peterson to improve more and more each week as he approaches 100%.
#2: Jamal Charles is another running back that I enjoyed watching; last year he to suffered an injury to his ACL during week 2. Although he had more time to recover from his injury than AP, I was skeptical how he would look during week 1 of the 2012 season. During a week one loss against the Atlanta Falcons Charles showed us that although he is not 100% recovered from his injury it is clear that his reconstructed knee is holding up just fine. Charles had a few nice runs showing that he could cut and burst close to what he was capable of in the past.
#3: Sticking with running backs I am going to talk about Chris Johnson, formerly known as CJ2K, but may be better renamed as CJ1K. After an offseason in which Chris Johnson openly boasted about this year being his comeback year he did not show me much during a week one loss to the Patriots. CJ1K carried the ball 11 times for a paltry 4 yards. That is a 0.4 yards per carry average folks. If anyone is in somewhat decent shape I encourage you to grab a tryout with the Titans this year because at this point you may be better then Johnson. I do expect (and hope) Johnson will rebound for week two and make me eat my words because when he is on he is a joy to watch, but for now he is on my Shame Report (sorry to Dave Demeshek for stealing his thunder).
#4: Philip Rivers. This is a player who has seen better days. Always touted as an elite quarterback in the NFL, Rivers had a disastrous season last year that saw him throw a career high 20 interceptions with a measly 88.7 quarterback rating. Rivers’ throwing mechanics have always been questioned but he has made it work for him. Last year mechanics and a lack of good decision making was on full display and the Chargers missed the playoffs again. This year I look forward to seeing Rivers rebound and prove to everyone he is still an elite quarterback. If he can’t rebound, well, sorry Norv Turner but you may be
looking for another job elsewhere.
#5: I was at a crossroads about whom I wanted to write about here. It came down to Mike Williams, wide receiver for the
Buccaneers, and Desean Jackson, wide receiver for the Philadelphia Eagles. I decided to write about both. Both are smaller guys that use their speed to their advantage. In his sophomore season Mike Williams saw a large regression. He was
unable to beat double teams because defenses keyed in on him and his statistics showed catching the same amount of passes as his rookie season but his receiving yards dropped from 964 to 771 and touchdown count from 11 to 3. With the addition of Vincent Jackson, Williams should see little to no double teams. Hopefully he can take hold of this opportunity and reemerge as the exciting and skilled wide receiver from 2010.
Desean Jackson spent last year in contract negotiations with the Eagles and after a let down year he admitted that he let off the gas because he wanted to have financial stability before he put his body that much on the line. Jackson was unable to crack the 1000-yard mark for the first time since his rookie season and did not look engaged many times throughout the season. During the offseason the Eagles resigned him to a 5-year contract worth 51 million dollars. Now that the man is paid I expect him to have an incredible year both receiving and returning. And if he doesn’t I may just have to burn that throwback Jackson jersey I bought 2 years ago.
- The Shill
