Denver Broncos running back Devontae Booker suffered a season-ending knee injury during his final year playing for the Utah Utes, but he has worked through the offseason to rehab his knee and get back to 100 percent.
Booker had 1,261 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns before he underwent surgery to repair a “small” meniscus tear, only playing in 10 games.
The Broncos took a risk selecting him in the fourth round, but they’re confident he will be able to stave off injury and be a key contributor to their offense.
Booker was asked by reporters about the status of his health.
“It’s pretty good,” Booker said. “I feel very confident about it and just can’t wait to get out here and compete.”
He explained how he had to put in as much, if not more, work than most of the guys on the team to avoid re-injuring himself.
“It was definitely an investment for me over this whole portion when I got up here,” Booker said. “I actually stayed here throughout the summer break when all the guys went home. I was just rehabbing. Like I said, it was an investment for me to do that so I can get back on the field quicker and go out and compete with the rest of the guys.”
Booker was asked about his second surgery when he was required to go under the knife for a second time after the first procedure didn’t turn out to be as successful as he wanted.
“Yes, back in February, I got a repair done in November, and after the repair it wasn’t healing how it was supposed to,” Booker said. “So in February they went back in and trimmed the meniscus. I’ve just been rehabbing on it since.”
The rookie running back talked about his biggest struggles mentally and physically when it came to rehabbing.
Physically: “Just getting my knee back stronger. This was my first injury ever. I didn’t know what to expect. It was tough in the beginning doing the rehab stuff because it was my first injury ever. Once I started getting back in the groove of things and started feeling my knee coming back to normal, then everything started going out the door, with me thinking about my knee and wanted to get it stronger. If I did have an injury, like an ankle sprain or something like that, I just played right through it. Even when I got hurt playing at Utah, when I tore my meniscus during the game, I just played right through it. I got an MRI after the game, and that’s when they said I had torn my meniscus.”
Mentally: “For me it was pretty much mental a little bit. Now I’m all past that. Cuts and straight lines are all back to normal, so I feel good. At first they thought I was going to have to get just a little trim and be done, just go through a little surgery and be out three weeks or so. This one I had to get a repair and I was for the rest of the year.”
Booker remains confident he will catch onto the offensive scheme quickly. With an improved offensive line and a defense from out of this world, he should get plenty of opportunities to prove himself to not just his teammates but to the organization and fans.
“I feel good,” Booker said. “I don’t think I could have landed in a better situation here in this offensive scheme. I’m going to do everything I can to go out there and play my butt off. It’s why I can play.”
The talented rookie is expecting to contribute sooner rather than later and sounded determined to be a force running the ball when asked if he thought he was going to contribute quickly.
“I’m really confident about it,” Booker said. “I’m just here to compete and do what I need to do for the team so I can get out and play a lot this year. I think I’m relied on heavily by some of the coaches to exceed expectations, and I believe that I will do so.”
Booker remains behind CJ Anderson and Ronnie Hillman on the depth chart, but as we know, things can take a turn quickly.