Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill missed the final games of the 2016 season after taking a low hit from Calaias Campbell in a game against the Cardinals. Tannehill’s MCL injury has healed, but he still has a partial tear in his ACL.
So how does he look so far in offseason workouts?
“He looks normal to me,” coach Adam Gase told reporters on Friday. “He just looks like he did last year. The difference is he’s got a better grasp of the offense at this point compared to last year. He moves around fine. He’s got a good edge that I like to him right now. You can tell that he wasn’t real happy about getting hurt last year. I like the way he’s working right now, and we’ll just keep doing what we’ve been doing. I know he’s really trying to make sure that he’s one of the reasons that we’re taking the next step. He’s really been pushing himself.”
Asked whether Tannehill is back to 100 percent, Gase said, “I don’t know all the percentages and stuff. All I know is he looks good to me.”
Gase may not know the percentages, but they’re necessarily below triple digits. Tannehill’s ACL isn’t going to heal on its own, so he’s not what he was before the low hit. (As NBC Sports Medicine Analyst Mike Ryan said at the time Tannehill’s injury happened, plenty of players likely are currently performing at a normal level with partial ACL tears.) The Dolphins ultimately decided that they were more comfortable with Tannehill playing on a slightly torn ACL than having Tannehill get a new ACL.
But here’s the reality — the slight tear could still become a full tear. Which means that Jay Cutler could still be getting a call from the 305 area code.