The start to cornerback Jeff Okudah‘s NFL career has been lackluster, but he’s on the path to getting a shot at making things better in Year 3.
Okudah tore his Achilles in the season opener last year and has recovered enough to be participating in practices with the team during the OTA phase of the offseason. Head coach Dan Campbell declined to say when the 2020 first-round pick might be ready for a full workload, but fellow corner Amani Oruwariye said that Okudah’s in a good place right now.
“I think mentally probably is the biggest thing right now,” Oruwariye said, via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. “I knew he would get back healthy, but mentally he’s amazing. He’s in great spirits, doing his thing, getting back, getting that Achilles and the whole body right in general. But I think we’re going to be excited just to get him back in the locker room, just his infectious attitude around the guys.”
Okudah was limited to nine games as a rookie and didn’t play well when he was on the field, so there’s a lot for him to come back from this year. If he’s able to do it and show the kind of skills that made him the third overall pick, it would be a major boost to the defense in Detroit.