Javonte Williams is ready to play.
During the Broncos running back’s youth football camp, which he co-hosted with cornerback Pat Surtain II on Sunday morning at Bear Creek High School, Williams said he expects to be cleared for training camp, avoiding the physically-unable-to-perform list after suffering a season-ending torn ACL in October.
When asked if he would suit up in Denver’s Week 1 matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders on Sept. 10, Williams said it’s up to the Broncos.
“You know I want to play,” he said.
Williams provided optimism in his recovery process when he participated in OTAs and minicamp less than eight months after injuring his right knee in the third quarter of a Week 4 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders. Although he wasn’t involved in team scrimmages during the media viewing period, Williams moved around well during drills.
“It felt good (being on the field),” Williams said. “I’m just doing everything (the Broncos) have asked me to do. Hopefully, everything continues to go as planned.”
Williams returning to the field in Week 1 is a reasonable expectation, according to Dr. Clinton Soppe, who specializes in sports medicine and orthopedics at Cedars-Sinai Kerlan-Jobe Institute.
Soppe said Williams participating in Denver’s offseason program was a good sign while noting it typically takes 9 to 12 months for professional athletes to recover after a torn ACL so they can avoid re-injury or a hamstring tear.
“If (Williams is) participating in the majority of the drills, that’s pretty quick to be doing that,” Soppe told The Post. “(However), (athletes) are quite not the same player until season two after ACL reconstruction.”
Soppe suggested Williams should limit any contact activities, focusing on drills where the former North Carolina standout has control of his body movements.
“I’m sure (the Broncos are) going to try to push him as far to the beginning of the season to have significant action (and) limit risk to the ACL,” said Soppe, an orthopaedic consultant for the L.A. Galaxy.
Williams, who rushed for 903 yards and four touchdowns as a rookie, said the mental recovery has been essential.
While rehabbing, Williams has leaned on the voices of wide receiver Tim Patrick and former Broncos Ronald Darby and Bradley Chubb. Patrick and Darby tore their ACLs last season, while Chubb, who was traded to Miami in November, suffered the same injury in 2019.
“(From) being able to move however you want to sitting in bed and trying to get your knee to bend all over again was the hardest part,” he said.
Soppe said athletes recover differently. Ravens running JK Dobbins, who missed the entire 2021 season after tearing his ACL, LCL and meniscus in his left knee in a preseason game (along with his hamstring), didn’t practice again until almost a year after his injury and didn’t play in his first game until Week 3 of the 2022 campaign.
Even though the Ravens were cautious, the former Ohio State standout was placed on injured reserve in the middle of the season after undergoing arthroscopic surgery in October. He returned to the field in December, playing in the final four games of the regular season and Baltimore’s loss to Cincinnati in the Wild Card round.
Baltimore running back Gus Edwards, who also missed the 2021 season with a torn ACL, returned to practice Oct. 5, then made his season debut 18 days later against the Cleveland Browns.
In 2020, New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley tore his ACL in Week 2. He was able to return by the season opener of the following season, but wasn’t his usual self. Barkley combined for 195 yards in five games before missing four due to an ankle injury. He didn’t return to form until 2022 when he rushed for 1,312 yards and 10 TDs.
“It’s multifactorial, but No. 1, it depends when they tore their ACL,” Soppe said. “Javonte tore it earlier in the season, so he will have more time to rehabilitate. A lot of athletes have multiple injuries. They have other ligament tears, lateral collateral ligament, medial collateral ligament, meniscus repair (and) cartilage injuries. And so every ACL tear is a little bit different.”
Williams wants to become the violent runner he’s used to being. That means returning to full strength.
“That’s what I’ve been my whole life,” Williams said. “I don’t want to get on the field, playing scared. When I get back out there, I want to be 100%.”
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