Sheldon Rankins received good news when he arrived at the Ochsner Sports Performance Center Monday.
“I showed up today thinking I was going to treatment as normal,” the New Orleans Saints defensive tackle said. “But like I said (I) had a beautiful surprise to be able to come out here and play football with my teammates.”
Rankins suited up and participated in some individual and team drills during practice for the first time this training camp.
“It’s all by the grace of God I’m able to be back out here and be able to do something I love again,” he said.
Rankins hadn’t participated in any of the Saints offseason or preseason workouts as he recovered from a torn Achilles he suffered in January’s Wild Card round win against the Philadelphia Eagles. The Saints former first-round draft pick was in the midst of the best season of his career, one that saw him tally eight sacks, before he was carted off the field early in that game.
“(It) definitely didn’t end the way I wanted it to,” Rankins said. “And I think I kept that in the back of my mind throughout this entire recovery process.”
Saints coach Sean Payton said he’s seen the way Rankins attacked his rehab and said the former Louisville standout had done a “remarkable job” getting himself prepared to return. Payton was quick to follow that praise with a reminder that Rankins still had a lot of work to do before he’d be ready to play.
“Its encouraging,” Payton said. “But I’m not going to put a time clock on when we think he’ll be able to play because obviously the injury he had was significant. But he’s worked really hard to put himself in that position.”
Rankins credited his support system including doctors, trainers and other players who helped him with his process. He said he was in contact with players that suffered similar injuries including his former teammate and current Kansas City Chiefs defensive end Alex Okafor. Okafor said suffered a torn Achilles in 2017 and recovered in time to start the 2018 season.
Sheldon Rankins teammates did the shimmy when he returned to practice yesterday. Teddy Bridgewater demonstrates pic.twitter.com/RJ3UL8ALH2
— Amos Morale III (@Amos_MoraleIII) August 26, 2019His current teammates were glad to see him back on the field and greeted Rankins with his signature shimmy dance as well as made him participate in a tradition that is normally reserved for OTAs — 40 up-downs.
“That’s kind of our thing here — that’s the buy in,” he said. “Everybody usually does them together during OTAs but I wasn’t granted that luxury.
“So 40 up-downs to start the day is not the best way to start practice. But (I) got it out the way.“
Rankins said his current focus now is to give himself a shot at helping the team this season. He’s eligible for the team’s first game but Payton said him playing then would be “unrealistic.”
Rankins said he would like to play early this season but understands he still has work to do to be ready to take the field.
“For me, right now, it’s about being able to come out here everyday and take steps now as a football player, not a guy who’s trying to rehab and trying to get back out here,” he said.
