Promising Prognosis

by Andy Little
Last year Travelle Wharton was on the edge of a breakout season. He had been practicing as the starting left tackle after two years on the team. He had been drafted in the 3rd round, now had two years of experience, and was ready to be a full time starter on this team. He had worked hard, said all the right things, and was well liked by his teammates.

Mike Rucker has been a staple of this team since being drafted. When leaders on this defense were mentioned, he and Mike Minter were the first players named. Rucker and fellow defensive end Julius Peppers have led the league in sacks between two teammates since 2002 and in that span the defense has finished in the top ten for four of five seasons.

Last season both Wharton and Rucker went down to ACL injuries and have found themselves on a similar rehab schedule. During the June mini-camps they could always be found working out together on the sidelines with conditioning Coach Jerry Simmons. Those were not easy workouts and they couldn’t participate in drills with the other players on the field.

If nothing else, neither player had to feel like they were going through this alone. The players had each other to talk to. Offensive and defensive players don’t often get to talk a lot but Rucker has gotten to spend a lot of time with Wharton. Rucker said, “It’s been good. It’s allowed me to get to know him personally. We’ve had a lot of time to talk and a lot of ups and downs in the rehab. I have never really been able to get close to offensive guys so this has been a treat. For him to open up and me to open up and us to get to know each other more than being on the field has been a positive thing.”

Both players have recently made their way back onto the field but the timetable for returning as starters for opening day is still yet to be fully determined. Each ACL injury is different and players react to it differently. Each player returning to form at these key positions will go a long way in determining the record of the team this year. Rucker said that he just has to leave it up to the staff to determine how much he’s going to play each week. “I’m just leaving it up to the trainers and coaching staff. I’ve never been down this road before. If it was a sprained ankle or a pulled muscle you can gauge that but something like this-you have to be smart with it. I’ve gotten this far and done good so we don’t want to set ourselves back. I’m just going to leave it up to them and let them gauge where I am.”