“They’re all improving. None of them are practicing,” Campbell said ahead of the third OTA practice for the team. “It’s the best I can tell you.”
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At this point, there is no clear timeline for any of those players’ returns to the field, but this week we did get some visual progress for Branch.
The Lions’ Pro Bowl safety suffered a torn Achilles in early December, and it’s basically been radio silence since. However, a couple of Instagram pages this week shared photos and videos of Branch’s rehab process. First, the Instagram page _rockofficial shared a pair of photos of him working with a medicine ball and flipping a tire.
That account belongs to Christian Van Buren, a former college football player and current “performance specialist.”
Additionally, Branch was featured in a promotional video for the Dallas Sports Physical Therapy Clinic’s Instagram page (AKA Athlete RX), where he talks about his recovery from the Achilles injury.
“That three years with a strong enough relationship where any injury I had, I know they would get me right—not just get me right, but get me back quicker, too” Branch said. “Them being who they are and just me trusting them, they helped me a long way.”
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Later he would add:
“From doing rehab and going to the field, I feel like it’s easy working with them. I pretty much do a lot in here, like stuff I would do on the field, and by the time I get on the field, it’s pretty much like making a layup,” Branch said.
It’s not much, but it’s at least a sign of progress. And with Colts quarterback Daniel Jones—who suffered an Achilles tear less than a week after Branch—being medically cleared to return to 7-on-7s, perhaps there’s a little more optimism now for Branch to return sooner rather than later.