Lions running back Jahvid Best has missed a full year after suffering two concussions early in the 2011 season, but he hopes he is less than 24 hours away from being cleared to return.
Best said on Thursday that he has gone through a battery of tests and felt good about it all, and he thinks doctors may tell him on Friday that he can play football again.
“When you take the concussion test, it’s a lot of stuff that goes on,” Best said. “I took it Monday, and so they don’t know how it went until Friday. It’s a lot of, I don’t know if you’d call it grading or not, but there’s a lot of stuff that goes on, so I can’t give you my opinion on how it went. But I’m just hopeful for the best, for tomorrow.”
Best sounds optimistic, but then again he sounded optimistic over the summer that he would be cleared for Week One, and that didn’t happen. So until the official word comes from the doctors, we just won’t know when Best might play again.
But if the word from the doctors is positive, Best could be on the field as soon as the Lions’ Monday night game against the Bears on October 22.