Kareem Huggins Is Getting Better - But Still A Long Way Away

by Sander on Jul 3, 2011 4:00 PM EDT

In general, most Bucs are recovering well from injury. Gerald McCoy and Cody Grimm looked 100% in the min-camp after coming off a torn biceps and a broken leg respectively. Quincy Black, Aqib Talib and Davin Joseph participated fully as well. Kellen Winslow hasn't even had surgery for the first time in years. Arrelious Benn is returning from a torn ACL and was running and cutting already, though his rehab has not been completed yet. Only Brian Price and Kareem Huggins are unlikely to be ready for the start of the season. We've already talked about Brian Price, who had a unique surgical procedure and is still working on his rehab.

Karrem Huggins is different, though. His knee injury isn't really unique, but it is very severe. The Bucs have never said exactly what Huggins tore, but the Tampa Tribune noted that the injury was "very bad" and that "he blew out everything." This hurts Huggins more than most players, as his main asset was speed - and knee injuries often take away speed. The Bucs seem to feel the same way, as Huggins was the only restricted free agent not to be offered a tender before the lockout.

Still, Kareem Huggins told the St. Petersburg Times that he's close to returning. He was present at the three-day mini-camp this past week, but did not participate in drills. While Huggins may be close to finishing his rehab, he is still a long way away from being ready to return to the field of play. And even if he does return, the odds are against him retaining all of his speed and skills. If he does return, with all of his speed intact, he can be an asset for the Bucs' offense. Unfortunately, he likely won't be on the field in 2011, if ever again.

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In unrelated news,

I saw Kareem and Elbert Mack at the mall a few weekends back. I expected Kareem to look huge, but Mack was as well lol.

Always had a soft spot for Huggins. Maybe because we haven’t had a speedy ‘play-maker’ in the backfield (maybe even the whole field) since maybe Warrick Dunn. Joey Galloway was never that shifty guy, but still made a lot of plays down the field. I wish him the best with his recovery, with hope that he can return to the team post-Caddy/EG. Bradford is pretty much a lock with Blount returning, and I think we resign Cadillac and keep Earnest at fullback. The more weapons Freeman can get, the better. Best of luck to you Kareem!

by rjblitz02 on Jul 3, 2011 4:58 PM EDT reply actions

Best of Luck Huggy

((b-town))

by Titankillah on Jul 3, 2011 6:06 PM EDT reply actions

This is another reason why an 18 games season is reckless

Football is a brutal sport, and whether your Joe Theisman’s leg or Cadillac Williams knee’s, sooner or later every player is going to have atleast one symptom of playing. Its the ultimate game of attrition and heart, where the toughest survive to have productive and long careers. And every year, the modern defenses are getting tougher and stocked with the strongest, fastest and explosive players. Adding two more games is going to throw the division rankings off, kill more careers and leave the playoffs unenjoyable to watch.. only the backups will make it. Teams are going to have to throw more money each year for the same player and skill, meanwhile injuries will pile on. Chronic injuries will become more common.

((b-town))

by Titankillah on Jul 5, 2011 4:05 AM EDT up reply actions

An 18 game season with 2 bye weeks...

instead of 16 weeks with 1 bye allows for more rest and recovery. They are playing the games anyway – why not make them count and generate an additional revenue. Gotta pay for this crap somehow.

by Cracker Ball on Jul 6, 2011 12:48 AM EDT up reply actions

They are NOT playing the games right now....

The starters rarely if ever play a full half of a game during the preseason for the very reason that the coaches try to restrict playing time to avoid injuries. CB, don’t buy into that whole sales pitch that the owners are pitching about extending the season. Think about what would happen to the team if Freeman went down – not to mention the extra stress that would happen to his arm with an extra 2 games on the schedule. I do think that 4 preseason games is too many and think we should cut that down to 2 games.

Still waiting for the day that the NFL comes back to LA...

by LABucsFan on Jul 6, 2011 8:12 PM EDT up reply actions

Well, I personally would not mind additional games to watch

and an 18 game, 2 bye week formula gives me another week of football. Each team is still only playing in 16 games per season – with 2 byes. This lengthens the season a bit but doesn’t put Freeman on the field more. It gives the league the opportunity to sell an additional weeks worth of games to the TV networks with no extra play. Just stretching it out a bit longer.

Seems like a genuine win/win to me…

by Cracker Ball on Jul 9, 2011 12:09 PM EDT up reply actions

I have one question for you:

How many injuries occured in the last 6 weeks of play last year? And you want to add two more games to that? I just don’t think it’s a good idea in this day and age – The bigger they are, the harder they fall.

Still waiting for the day that the NFL comes back to LA...

by LABucsFan on Jul 13, 2011 1:15 PM EDT up reply actions