Seahawks' Graham: 'There were some dark days' during injury rehab
Jimmy Graham made his long-awaited return to the practice field Wednesday, marking his first on-field appearance since rupturing a patellar tendon in November.
The Seattle Seahawks tight end was excited to be back with teammates after a grueling recovery, and he said the rehab will remain a part of his daily routine for many months to come.
"There were some dark days," Graham said after practice, according to Sheil Kapadia of ESPN. "It's been eight months. It's been a constant eight months. I've never been through something that every day you had to do something for it. Every day, you wake up, and until you go to bed, you're doing some type of rehab. It's been like that for me for eight months, and it'll continue to be like that for me for the next eight months.
"It's something that I'm always going to have to pay attention to. It's a part of life now. It makes me appreciate the game even more than I did. Just being out there today, I'm full of passion and full of fire. I get goosebumps just walking out of that door. So it was a great day."
Graham only took part in some individual drills Wednesday, and it may be some time before he's cleared for a full practice workload. But as head coach Pete Carroll later told reporters, the early preseason return has the 29-year-old on track for Week 1.
The difficult road back, Graham explained, tested far more than just his physical strength.
"For me, I think one of the biggest battles is mentally," Graham said. "You have good days and you have bad days. Randomly, you'll feel good for weeks, and then all of a sudden, you'll have a bad day where you're really sore. And you end up questioning yourself, like 'Am I doing the right thing? Why is this so hard?' Especially for me and my career, I feel like a lot of things have come easy. I've always been athletic and fast. To have to learn how to walk again, it's very humbling for sure."
If healthy in advance of the regular season, Graham should have every opportunity to earn a primary pass-catching role within the Seattle offense.
Graham recorded 48 receptions for 605 yards and two touchdowns across 11 starts last season after joining the Seahawks in a blockbuster trade from the New Orleans Saints.
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