Nick Gates returned to practice on Wednesday, and the Giants have until Nov. 26 to decide whether to or not to activate him from PUP, send him to IR, or shut him down.
Just 13 months after a leg injury that could’ve ended his career, Gates is ready for the challenge – just like he has been his entire rehab process.
“I'm going to have to be ready, it's all I've got. But no, I feel good,” Gates said. “It's nice to be back out there on the field, it's nice to run around with the guys. It was a good time, and huge to get that damn red jersey off. It was a good feeling to be back out there. I told the guys I'm excited to get back out there with you and let's keep the ball rolling. I didn't think I was going to be back out there this fast.”
Nor did the Giants, who watched as a complicated leg fracture ended Gates’ season last September, and jeopardized his ability to ever get back to 100 percent. It took seven surgeries and a lot of hard work and hard times, but Gates made it.
“The original surgery, they put a rod in, two screws down my tibia. Then I got compartment syndrome, so I had a fasciotomy, and let the swelling do its thing and slowly close you up. That took four and then I had to get a skin graft which was No. 6, then they had to take my rod out and put another rod in which was No. 7,” Gates revealed. “The last surgery, about six months ago, they had to take the rod out because I had an infection in my bone and put another rod in. I thought I wasn't going to be able to play this year.”
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However, days into Week 6, there was Gates, doing about half of his team reps and all of his individual reps, and he would’ve been in pads had Wednesday been one of those practices, because he’s “full-go for the most part.”
Which, for him, was ‘a little weird’ but an emotional end to a long, dark journey.
“My rehab I did the last three months I've been doing complete indy with me and the trainers and the strength coaches. I've been trying to beat my leg up and trying to throw it into the ground as hard as I could and just trying to get the most realistic look I can with it – and now, it's easy,” he said. “I thought it was going to be a lot more gassed and a lot harder right now. I feel like I pushed myself the last three months to get me where I'm at. It was a roller coaster of emotions, I'm not going to lie.”
A roller coaster that stopped at excitement the minute he stepped on the field.
“I was just excited to be back out there. I just wanted to go out there and just play football again. Not have to think, not have to worry about making calls – just go out there and play football,” Gates said. “It was fun, it was fun to be back out there with the guys. That camaraderie, you don't get that when you're just by yourself doing indy or off to the side. It was good to be back in there with the guys. They tried to include me as much as they could, but it got a little lonely.”
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Gates has a rod the entire length of his tibia that “you can’t mess up any more unless you run a truck over it,” and even though he thinks he could’ve been ready for Week 1 had he not had the infection or needed a new rod, he knows he’s still a ways away from game action, and taking it one step at a time.
“I’m just trying to make the team, basically, put my best foot forward the next three weeks and give them any reason not to be able to cut me,” Gates said. “I've just got to take it day by day and get myself back up to where I was before I got hurt. I'm just thinking of the next day ahead.”
But every day he works to get back now, any day that’s more difficult, he can look back at those moments where he never thought he’d even get this far.
“Like any injury you have, those thoughts are natural. I talked to our sports psychologist a little bit and she was like, 'Yeah, that's normal. That's part of an injury and part of the process of healing and moving forward,’” Gates said. “But things come and go, and you've got to take them head on and I feel like I did that. I just wanted to play football again to be honest with you. Just being out there is fun. I don't know how else to explain it, but I was watching the last game up in the box the last couple of weeks we were playing and I'm like, 'I just want to be back out there again with the guys and just have fun.'”
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And he finished that thought with a quote that proves his smash-mouth mentality is still there.
“What other job lets you hit people and basically do whatever you want?” he laughed. “It's a fun time.”
Whatever Gates contributes this year is a bonus, especially because as someone who had no rapport with the new regime, he’s an unknown quantity with baggage, so to speak – but head coach Brian Daboll seems to be in his corner.
“Impressive,” Daboll said of Gates’ return. “Much respect to really anybody that comes back from injuries, but his injuries were significant. All the surgeries and he's had nothing but a positive mindset since he's been here. You root for guys like that. It's a tough industry we're in, in terms of physical things that can happen. Just a lot of respect for him and what he's done and proud of the young man.”
Follow Lou DiPietro on Twitter: @LouDiPietroWFAN
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