When an NFL player goes down with an ACL tear, most fans automatically start a 365-day clock in their heads. And, being eternal optimists who always assume their heroes possess some sort of supernatural healing ability, many assume the player can shave a couple months off that and be back in action sooner.
But returning to the practice field- or even the starting lineup- isn’t the same as returning to pre-injury form. That, history has shown over and over, takes far longer for a major piece of human hardware such as an anterior cruciate ligament, especially one that’s subject to a job that’s among the world’s most physically demanding. Not to mention the mental comeback needed to fully trust one’s body again.
It’s been exactly 500 days since Cowboys wide receiver Michael Gallup suffered his ACL tear in Week 17 of the 2021 regular season: sixteen months and change.
But the veteran entering his sixth pro season gave a very encouraging update on his status on Wednesday, announcing to reporters, “I feel springy again.”
Gallup made the comments at AT&T Stadium during an announcement by the team that their home venue would play host to the Professional Bull Riding World Finals in May of 2024. But the former third-round draft pick out of Colorado State expects to be fully back in the saddle far sooner, with his injury left in the dust far behind him.
‘Last year at this time, I couldn’t walk. It’s different now,” Gallup said. “It just feels different. I’m smiling every time I walk in that facility.”
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Twelve months ago, heading into the 2023 offseason program, the club was banking on Gallup stepping right back into a premier role within the Cowboys’ passing attack. Amari Cooper was in Cleveland, and Gallup would be the clear WR2 behind CeeDee Lamb to start the season.
Except Gallup didn’t take the field again until Week 4. And he wasn’t reunited with quarterback Dak Prescott until Week 7. That left just 65% of the regular-season schedule for Gallup and Prescott, both coming off injuries, to get back in sync with one another.
It never happened, as Gallup turned in just 424 receiving yards, averaged 10.9 yards per catch, 5.7 yards per target, and 30.3 yards per game. All were career lows.
Even to the casual observer, it was clear that Gallup wasn’t back to his old self. He admitted that his confidence had taken just as much of a hit- maybe even a harder one- than his ACL.
“I was thinking too much,” he confirmed Wednesday. “My knee was feeling sore, and it was just different. I never really had it like that last year.”
The Dallas front office restructured Gallup’s contract to create $7 million of cap room back in March, amid questions from some outside the building that Gallup might be permanently-damaged goods. The reworked deal makes it harder to now cut ties with Gallup, even after the upcoming season.
So the Cowboys are apparently confident that the 27-year-old will be back to full strength.
And now, finally, 500 days later, so is Gallup.
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