High hopes for Colts wide receiver Parris Campbell have been dashed by a series of injuries over the last three seasons and missing 34 games after going in the second round of the 2019 draft took a mental toll on him.
Campbell said there was a moment in his recovery from torn knee ligaments in his second season when he asked “what are we doing here” because of the lack of progress he was seeing. He thought about retiring, but conversations with the team’s medical staff and some time away to clear his head led him to continue pushing to get back on the field.
He made it back, but a foot injury last year kept him from fully turning things around. Campbell has stayed healthy this summer and he believes that changes to his mental approach to the game related to his time on the shelf will make a big difference for him in the regular season.
“My career thus far hasn’t been what I’ve wanted it to be,” Campbell said, via Bob Kravitz of TheAthletic.com. “That’s about to change. . . . In the past, I don’t want to say I took things for granted or didn’t appreciate it, but like now, I appreciate it and the abilities I’ve been blessed with that much more. I had the game taken away from me three straight years. I had to sit at home. Going through all of this has changed my mindset. I’ve been blessed to rehab from some serious injuries that some guys don’t come back from. The opportunity I have now, it’s everything. It’s everything.”
The Colts have been bullish about Campbell’s ability to help the offense and offensive coordinator Marcus Brady said the player they’ve seen this summer is “what we’ve been waiting for” since drafting him. Not he just needs to stay healthy long enough to show the rest of the league.