More Top Picks Ninja Foodi Deluxe Xl
player ready...Former Bears linebacker Rosevelt Colvin is battling back from a horrendous setback with the New England Patriots.
In a year in which the Patriots are 13-2, won the AFC East and are jockeying for prime playoff position, the prized free-agent pickup’s season ended after he fractured his left hip in Game 2 against Philadelphia while trying to scoop up a loose ball and run.
When one watches the play on video, there’s no major collision, just an incredibly unlucky movement. If Colvin had just fallen on the ball, he’d likely still be playing.
But players, especially those as athletic as Colvin, are taught to make a play. He only did what came instinctively, and he suffered a major injury as a result.
The severity of the injury never has been fully revealed. What is known is that three weeks ago, Colvin finally shed his crutches and began walking under his own power.
He comes to Gillette Stadium just about every day for three hours of rehabilitation. He’s usually in therapy while his teammates are in meetings or at practice. He’ll occasionally jump into a linebackers meeting, say hello and joke with his teammates for a while. He has watched two games from the sideline.
Many people wonder what the defense would have been like with a pass-rushing specialist like Colvin, who had 10 1/2 sacks with the Bears in 2001 and ’02. Would the closer games have been won by a larger margin? Would the three-point loss to Washington have been turned into a win by something Colvin might have done?
Maybe the defense would have developed more of a name nationally had a flashy player like Colvin been on it. But Colvin has learned to put the what-ifs out of his mind.
“I’ve seen [the video] once, vaguely, and I don’t really look at it,” Colvin said. “I say in the training room almost once a day that I should have just fallen on the ball. But you’re just reacting in a situation like that. If I had to do it again, I’d have fallen on the ball. If I had known it was going to happen . . . “
Colvin has not been away from football since seventh grade, when he first put on a helmet and cleats.
“There’s nothing I can really do about it,” he said. “I’m not griping and I’m not upset. I just want to be out there and just want to be a part of it, but I can’t. I feel like I’m a part of the team, but it’s difficult because I can’t actually contribute physically. I’m just hanging out.”
His rehab has progressed slowly. He went from being bedridden to sitting up. He had to have assistance getting up and down and then walking a few steps. He eventually got to the point where he could sit up, then stand with crutches.
Where is he now?
“I can walk,” he said. “I’m trying to do the basic functions of getting up in the morning, walking down stairs, walking up stairs, moving around without any assistance. I’m feeling pretty good. It wasn’t necessarily learning to walk again, but making it more natural to walk again.”
Colvin has seen the team’s preseason vision come into focus. He was part of that devastating 31-0 opening-day loss to the Bills, and he was part, if only for a short while, of the team’s rebound in a 31-10 win over the Eagles.
“We were confident then, but as the games roll on, we’re gaining more and more confidence,” he said. “We’ve understood that you can’t go into a hostile environment, an opponent’s field, and allow them to have any success because once you get the fans into it, it builds momentum for them.
“We’ve had veterans stepping up, younger players playing well, and everybody knows what it is they have to get done on a weekly basis. That’s why I wanted to be here. I’m sorry now that I can’t be a part of it.”