Colts’ Parris Campbell hopes to put injury-marred season behind him

Parris Campbell is already looking forward to next season.

There was a lot of hope for Indianapolis Colts rookie wide receiver Parris Campbell to find a role in Frank Reich’s offense but injuries limited the development of the speedy wideout.

In what turned out to be a bizarre rookie campaign, Campbell dealt with several serious injuries. It started with a nagging hamstring in training camp. Then he had to get midseason surgery on a sports hernia. After that, he dealt with a fractured hand, and then his season finally ended early after suffering a broken foot in Week 14.

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It was a tough way to begin an NFL career, and it took a toll mentally as much as it did physically.

“I was really, really hard on myself,” Campbell told Jim Ayello of IndyStar. “I was beating myself up even though I couldn’t control what was going on…I was hurting physically, but it messes with your head. You get to thinking certain things about yourself. It can really be a dark path if you let it be.”

The Colts wide receiver corps got stuck terribly with the injury bug. Free-agent acquisition Devin Funchess missed all but one game due to a broken collarbone that took the entire season to heal. T.Y. Hilton was dealing with groin and calf injuries throughout the season. Campbell constantly had a new ailment pop up.

Even though Campbell had some development to do in his game, especially working as an outside receiver, his speed is game-changing regardless. He made that abundantly clear against the Tennessee Titans in Week 2.

But now with a full offseason to prepare for Year 2, Campbell is in a better place.

“But my plan now is to take that disappointment with me going into the offseason, training and preparing for next year,” Campbell said. “Honestly I think that just makes me more hungry.”

Campbell will have his chance to prove it when the offseason workouts and the preseason roll around. The Colts are probably just as eager to get the former second-round pick on the field more.

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