Branden Albert missed so much time last year that you’d think he’d know how to handle it. But he’s perhaps more frustrated than ever with the hamstring injury that cropped up after he had returned from last year’s knee problems to play in the opener.
Via Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald, Albert said he was still “day-to-day” heading into this weekend’s game against the Jets in London.
“I’m very, very frustrated, because for one, I know what people are going to start saying, I know what people are going to start insinuating,” Albert said. “It’s part of the process. If people understand the injury I have, it wasn’t just an ACL/MCL [tear]. I tore everything in my knee. I was out for 10 months.”
“I started running in the beginning of August. For me to play Game 1, and play the whole game, and play good enough to help my team and then go in the second game and start making progress, you ask a lot of football players, a lot of people in the world if they can do that. The answer’s no. . . .
“I [am] frustrated, but the coaching staff, the trainers, everybody’s supporting me, my teammates. I’ve never been through something like this. It was a learning experience for me, learning that things might happen, things that you’re not used to, things like this. I’ll move on, I’ll get better, and I’m going to help this team win.”
Of course, the Dolphins might be better served holding him back and letting him heal through the bye week. But things have gotten a little desperate, with the team losing two straight after winning the opener, and with replacement left tackle Jason Fox struggling.
But Albert admitted he might have been pushing himself too hard to get back by the opener, and that he “probably” would have benefitted from another month of rehab before his aggressive return.
“But I felt like I wanted to play, I felt like I needed to play,” Albert said. “We were down numbers with [Jason] Fox out and I would probably be at 90 percent. I made the decision. I made the decision to play, it wasn’t nobody else. I want to get that clear.
“But you never know, [the hamstring injury] could have happened if I had another month of practice. You never know. The thing about it is it happened early enough, it’s nothing serious, there’s nothing wrong with my knee. That’s all that matters.”
Well that, and the Dolphins high expectations being dashed early in a season.