The biggest question about Denver Broncos 2017 fifth-round draft pick Jake Butt isn’t how he handles having a name that’s ripe for parody. He fully embraces being a Butt. No, the biggest question about the two-time first-team All-American is whether or not he’s going to be healthy enough to make an impact in the NFL.
Butt slipped to the first pick of the fifth round, despite having first-round talent, mesaureables and football acumen, because he suffered a pair of ACL tears while in college. The second came in the 2016 Orange Bowl, less than five months ago.
A cautious timetable for return from a second ACL tear would be mid-season, if not taking off an entire year. However, Butt has some awesome technology at the University of Michigan that’s been helping him heal and prepare for the NFL.
Whistle Sports put together a very cool video documenting some of the tech that Butt believes will have him ready to play by September. (He also jokes about his last name, and shares a hilarious non-sequitor from Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh.)
During his introductory conference call, Butt told the Denver media he’s ambitious about a September return.
“That is ambitious, and last time when I tore my ACL the first time around, they told me, ‘You’re probably going to get redshirted or you won’t play until Big Ten season.’ I said, ‘You know what, you guys can think that.’ I ended up playing in week two, so I’ve always been ambitious.”
When asked about how this ACL injury compares to his last, Butt said, “You know, it differed a little bit. The first time around, I had a meniscus [tear] so they had to stitch up the meniscus, so on the front end, I wasn’t weight bearing for eight weeks. It was a little slower on the front end. This time, I was off crutches in two weeks and I’ve been lifting sooner and running sooner.”
Michigan’s awesome technology is a big part of the reason why.