Heading into the 2021 season, cornerback Jeff Okudah was very excited because he felt he was going to have a big year for the Detroit Lions.
Okudah, of course, was selected by the Lions with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft and he had a very rough rookie campaign under the guidance (or lack thereof) of former head coach, Matt Patricia.
Unfortunately, Okudah tore his Achilles tendon in the Lions’ very first game of the season in 2021 and he has not played in a regular season game since.
Jeff Okudah reaches out to a couple of surprise sources for advice
But that will change this coming Sunday when the Detroit Lions host the Philadelphia Eagles at Ford Field in Week 1 of the 2022 NFL regular season.
During a recent interview with ESPN, Okudah revealed a couple of surprise sources that he reached out to for advice on recovering from an Achilles injury.
Okudah said he reached out to NBA players John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins, who both tore their Achilles in 2018.
From ESPN:
“It was big,” Okudah told ESPN. “I wasn’t necessarily looking at the sport, but I was looking at the type of athlete John Wall was and the explosion that he played with.”
Wall didn’t see the call from Okudah as surprising. He was honored to help and felt it was important to pass on knowledge to a fellow athlete.
“I said, ‘Bro, just attack it the best way you can. You’re gonna have high days, you’re gonna have low days because that injury takes damn near a year or year and a half to really get back to where you want to be at,’” Wall told ESPN. “You might think you’re there, but physically, you’re not there. The doctors might clear you, but you’ve got to be clear with yourself 100%, and I said, ‘Don’t rush yourself back.’
“I said, I know you’re young, you want to play, and people say you heal fast when you’re younger, but take your time because this is something you don’t want to reinjure or overcompensate to mess anything else up.”
“Just to hear him say that,” Okudah said, “it was something I was going to listen to wholeheartedly.”
Jeff Okudah is not just going to play in his first game since tearing his Achilles in 2021 but he has been named as a starter by Lions head coach, Dan Campbell.
Nation, what is your expectation for Jeff Okudah in 2022?
