Monday, March 25, 2002
Virginia Tech running back looks good Saturday
For now, Suggs off-limits to contact in practice
roanoke.com
"He's going to be knocked around a little bit this spring before we go into next fall," Tech assistant Billy Hite says of Lee Suggs.
By RANDY KING
THE ROANOKE TIMES
BLACKSBURG - Lee Suggs loves it. He is one of the boys again.
After nearly seven months of countless hours of rehabilitation for a torn left ACL, Suggs was all smiles Saturday following Virginia Tech's first spring football practice.
"Man, it feels great being out here," Suggs said. "During [last] season I was out here, but I wasn't practicing. I was just watching and I felt like an outsider. But now I'm back; I feel like part of the team again."
The Hokies are glad to have him back. Guys who run for 1,207 yards and 28 touchdowns - Suggs' monster numbers in 2000 - can't be found on every street corner.
Suggs, who wrecked his knee in last season's Sept.1 opening game, has a little piece yet to travel on the long road to full recovery. Suggs, a Roanoke native, estimated he's 90 percent of the way home.
The Hokies are making certain he doesn't speed to get there. Suggs' blue practice jersey makes him off-limits to contact. Why gamble now, Tech trainer Mike Goforth said.
"The thing is, physiologically the way you do that surgery, it doesn't totally heal until about 12 months because you're putting two bone plugs in there," Goforth said. "The knee is stable, but physiologically you're talking 9-to-12 months and he's still in that time frame. So we don't want to take any stupid chances with him."
Suggs looked strong in Saturday's workout. Wearing a protective metal knee brace, the former William Fleming High School star made several good cuts and showed bursts of speed in his limited carries.
Suggs has yet to plant on his left leg and make that "first big cut," but he said it won't be long.
"This is just light practice now," he said. "I just have to ease up to then, and when the time comes, I'm going to have to make it happen."
It's a wall that has to be climbed, Goforth said.
"Lee needs to make a big cut on it, he needs to get hit on it and pop up and realize that 'Hey, I'm OK,'" Goforth said.
"But Lee's a very cerebral person. He's run all that stuff through his mind, he's run that play all through his mind. He's got an audio tape that we made him of all his touchdowns from the year before and I'm sure he has listened to that. I think mentally he's probably ready."
Don't be surprised to see No.22 in Tech's spring game on April20.
"I think the chances are real good I'll play," Suggs said. "I want to take some hits right now. It's been a long time since I've gotten hit or dished a hit out, so I'm just ready to get back into it. Football is game of getting hit.
"There's no way I can go through a full spring coming back from major surgery and saying I'm ready with not getting hit. I have to get hit just to see how it feels and how I react to it. I'd rather do it now and if I have any problems get it worked out before August."
Tech running backs coach Billy Hite didn't dismiss Suggs playing in the spring game. Hite said Suggs would be in contact drills eventually.
"I'm sort of leaving everything up to Lee right now," Hite said. "He's going to be knocked around a little bit this spring before we go into next fall. I think it's important from a mental standpoint just knowing how strong your knee is. So he'll get some contact before spring is over."
Hite is no stranger to the mental games that accompany a running back attempting to rebound from ACL surgery.
"I had a guy here named Jon Jeffries and he never came back from it," said Hite, referring to a Tech player who lettered in 1987, 1988 and in 1991. "It was all mental. Physically, Jon's knee was stronger than before he got it hurt, so I learned my lesson from that. But he would stop on contact, couldn't run through any contact, and it was all mental. I don't see any wall like that with Lee, but I want to make sure."
Ex-Tech cornerback Larry Austin, whose ACL surgery in 2000 was so successful that he became faster, said Suggs will know when he's all the way back.
"After his first hit or long run or something, Lee will see he still has it and he never lost a step," Austin said. "It's about trust. Trusting the surgery, trusting yourself and the trust of the others. Once people around you start to trust that you're strong enough and stop saying, 'Watch out for Lee,' you'll stop being cautious, you'll stop worrying about it. Then it's just like it has never happened." |
