Santonio Holmes injured his foot on this play against San Francisco last season.
Credit: Getty Images
Santonio Holmes’ nine-month recovery from a Lisfranc injury doesn’t seem to be nearing a conclusion anytime soon.
Speaking to the media on Wednesday, Holmes indicated he may not be ready for training camp in late July, possibly a big blow for a receiving corps plagued by drops during this week’s minicamp. With training camp six weeks away, Holmes is not participating in the offseason workouts beyond rehab work. He said he plans to stay and continue his rehab at the team’s facility after minicamp concludes on Thursday.
“I know Tone expects to be back by training camp,” head coach Rex Ryan said Thursday. “But we’re not going to put him out there to make a deadline.”
Holmes said what he’s taken from this injury is just how special an athlete’s life is and how unique of a job it is to be a football player.
“I definitely learned what we do for a living cannot be compared to anybody else’s job or to anybody just thinking that they can do what we do. Because we put so much emphasis and stress upon our bodies to train throughout the offseason, to come into minicamps and OTAs to prepare and then we get a six-week break to continue training,” Holmes said. “Then you go into training camp to continue training and then you’ve got a season for six months to play football and you constantly do that year in and year out. It’s very stressful to have to go through that.”
But Holmes is confident he will bounce back and be a playmaker again. Before the Week 4 injury last year, Holmes was on pace to top 1,000 yards for just the second time in his career.
Much has been made of Holmes supposedly having a contentious relationship with quarterback Mark Sanchez, who is currently in a competition with rookie Geno Smith for the starting position. Despite what has been construed by the media as a strained relationship in the past, Holmes said that Sanchez is “going to be our guy.”
“I think everybody believes in him. He wouldn’t be here if anybody didn’t believe in him,” Holmes said. “He’s still wearing the same [No.] 6 jersey that he’s worn since the day he got drafted here and I think the organization and even the team loves him and we’re going to continue supporting him.”
Follow Jets beat writer Kristian Dyer on Twitter @KristianRDyer.
