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INDIANAPOLIS – You look at the guy in the No. 11 jersey and nothing sticks out as him being the one who tore his ACL less than a year ago.
Deon Cain isn’t wearing any bulky knee brace at Grand Park.
Cain’s return to the practice field at Training Camp hasn’t seen him favoring his surgically repaired knee, with him participating in 5 of 7 practices so far.
“It’s really all good,” Cain says about how his knee feels in getting back to practice.
“I had a great offseason program with the trainers and that stuff. So I’m out here feeling good, flying. I’m really just trying to keep on progressing every day.”
When Cain was back returning kicks on the first day of Training Camp, that was a clear sign that the Colts had little worry about where his knee was at.
But while signs of physical limitations for Cain aren’t there, the receiver admits that some ups and downs have occurred in getting re-acclimated to practice.
“I had a little bit of rust to knock off just from competing with some of the other guys because I haven’t really been out here in the flow,” Cain accurately states.
“But the biggest thing out here is that I’m back out here and playing football again.”
Cain’s frequent presence on the field, and in teams drills, is the best sign for him through a week of camp.
A drop-filled practice on Wednesday, has mostly been surrounded by better days, typically including a couple of grabs in team drills.
The early unpredictability is to be expected for a guy who is still incredibly young in his NFL life.
Playing a little more than a quarter of one preseason game is all Cain has on his NFL-game resume so far.
It’s why Frank Reich is preaching the need for steadiness with the intriguing wideout.
“The consistency, that’s what it takes to rehab from something like that,” Reich says. “Deon came in last year and made a bunch of splash plays. I think the adversity that he has had to go through can hopefully teach him that the consistency that he’s had to display in his rehab to get back to here, you carry that onto the field as a wide receiver. That’s the way you need to approach playing wide receiver. It’s not just about making a big play, it’s about showing up on every play.”
Just like when you’re rehabbing, you can’t skip any steps. So hopefully this will be a big positive for him.”
The most important figures in the Colts organization are extremely high on Cain’s talent and future in the NFL.
Malik Hooker might not be on that pedestal, but he shares the same thinking.
“When I went through the ACL, it was horrible,” Hooker says. “He was down for maybe the first couple days after surgery but then he came back and attacked it how he was supposed to.
“It’s going to show. Deon Cain is going to be a household name in the NFL this year. A lot of people are going to be surprised.”
