Packers TE Andrew Quarless tore the ACL and MCL in his right knee a little more than eight months ago. It was widely assumed he’d begin the year on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list.
On Saturday, Quarless told reporters that wasn’t necessarily the case.
In fact, he said, he has a very imminent goal.
“Right now, our goal is the first game. That’s our goal,” Quarless said. “But it’s really a week-to-week process. This is six months and change, seven months (since surgery), and it’s really coming along. But it’s a big thing when it comes to that knee. We’re going to try to do it the right way.”
If Quarles returns a month from now it would be an astonishingly fast return from such a severe knee injury. But Quarless insisted Week One was a reasonable goal.
“I think it is a realistic just based on how my knee is feeling," said the third-year TE out of Penn State. "We don’t want to keep on pushing it back. We don’t want to say six weeks, eight weeks and not be back. We want to say Week One because I know I can get to it."
Quarles said the mental aspect is his biggest challenge right now. He said cutting and believing nothing is going to happen and trusting the knee is good is the next step.
"I cut on it and it doesn’t hurt," Quarles said. "Just getting that back will be good.”
Quarless referenced the speedy recovery of Vikings RB Adrian Peterson, who also tore the ACL and MCL last December, as motivation to rehab harder.
"To see him at four, five months, seeing what he was doing," Quarless said, "I started looking at myself and said, ‘OK. I have to step it up a notch.’”
Quarless had three receptions for 36 yards in 2011 as the third tight end. He wasn’t a major part of the offense but coaches were impressed with how enthusiastically and effectively he embraced special teams.
With four other tight ends returning from last year, the Packers probably aren’t trying to rush Quarless back too quickly. Still, he’s got the Sept. 9 season opener against the 49ers circled on his calendar.
“Right now, we’re shooting for game one," Quarless said. "When Week One comes, we’ll see the status of my knee. To me, I feel like if I get to 90 percent, 100 won’t be until a year. If I get to 90 percent, everybody else is playing nicked up. There shouldn’t be a reason I can’t. It’s really a week-by-week thing.”
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