06-07-2023, 05:44 PM
|
|
Post whore
|
|
Join Date: Jun 2018
Location: Indiana
Posts: 5,059
Thanks: 2,388
Thanked 2,514 Times in 1,415 Posts
|
|
Colts' Rigoberto Sanchez is back punting after Achilles tear
https://www.indystar.com/story/sport...r/70288884007/
Quote:
INDIANAPOLIS -- Rigoberto Sanchez is gripping that leather pigskin in his hands, letting it drop and letting it boom off his repaired Achilles tendon.
He isn't doing it in Colts practices just yet. That's still a step too far from one of the most devastating physical injuries a punter can endure. But he's on his way, which brings a smile to his face.
"Honestly, it was probably one of the hardest years last year for me, my family, my career and everything," Sanchez said. "I wouldn’t change a thing. I learned so much internally. Depth to me, faith, my family and life. I’ve always appreciated everything and every single day that I walk in this building, but it’s like a new level that I can’t express."
ADVERTISING
Everything feels just a little new right now. He has a new coach in Shane Steichen and a new special teams coordinator in Brian Mason. With fourth overall pick Anthony Richardson in the building, they're all trying to thaw out of the confusion and pain that was the 2022 season.
'WE PUT SO MUCH INTO IT':Life inside a Colts locker room in a 2022 season unlike any other
Indianapolis Colts punter Rigoberto Sanchez missed the 2022 season with an Achilles he tore during a sprint during training camp.
Perhaps nobody experienced it in a more private but grueling way than Sanchez. Last August, he felt as secure as a punter could when he lined up with teammates for a sprint to end a day of training camp. He was 27 years old, on a comfortable contract as one of the craftier directional punters and kickoff men in the game, with a career 45.1-yard punting average.
ADVERTISING
Then he took off, and something in his right leg gave out.
By that afternoon, his season was over. In the coming days, the Colts would sign Matt Haack after he'd been cut by the Bills.
A season started to spiral, with benchings and firings and disappointment.
SUBSCRIBER EXCLUSIVE
News Across the U.S.
Access the digital replica of USA TODAY and more than 200 local newspapers with your subscription.
Click "Universal" in the eNewspaper
OTA OBSERVATIONS:Anthony Richardson has up-and-down day, Julian Blackmon thrives
“As a competitor, you want to be out there with your teammates," Sanchez said. "I think I learned how to be patient, take a step back and really I just learned about myself internally. What’s important in life – family, football, all that good stuff.
ADVERTISING
"It was one of those things where I had to be patient with myself and my family. The people that were in my corner during that time, it was huge."
That corner included Sanchez's wife, who drove him to and from the facility while his right leg didn't work; general manager Chris Ballard, who kept checking in; Haack, whose brain he picked all season; and the Colts medical staff, who made a return possible.
Ten months after the injury, he's taking it easy during the voluntary portions of the offseason program. He hopes to be back for training camp but doesn't have a timeline yet.
A contract year awaits. Soon, he'll be looked to for stability for a changing special teams unit.
He's not taking any of it for granted. That's the gift of that time away.
|
|
Linear Mode
