• Wed. Sep 18th, 2024

Great News: He made a Remarkable Comeback, Stronger than Before after a 512-day Hiatus

How Isaiah Rodgers came back better than ever after 512-day layoff

The former Colts cornerback was suspended for the entire 2023 season for violating the NFL’s gambling policy.

He didn’t have a team. He didn’t have a coach. He didn’t have teammates.

But he could pretend.

So during his 512-day absence from football – from late in the 2022 season with the Colts until the start of OTAs last week with the Eagles – he spent his days away from the game down in Tampa doing exactly what he’d be doing if he was still with a team.

 

“I just kept my schedule as if I was still playing,” Isaiah Rodgers said. “On Sundays I used it like a game day so I’d do cardio and things like that. I’d take Tuesdays off as if I was still playing. So I kind of still stayed with the NFL schedule and just continued to work and just prepare for these moments.”

 

Rodgers spoke with Philly media Thursday for the first time since he signed with the Eagles in August soon after being suspended for a year for violating the NFL’s gambling policy and getting released by the Colts.

 

You never want to get carried away with a couple spring no-pads practices, but it’s kind of shocking just how good Rodgers looks so far. He’s made plays at both practices, sure, but it’s really the lack of rust that’s been so glaring.

Until these practices, he hadn’t been on a football field since Dec. 26, 2022. It’s now May 31, 2024.

 

“I think it’s a mindset,” he said. “You know, I envisioned, every time I worked out, I envisioned the A.J. Browns and the DeVonta Smiths in front of me, so I think I just kind of locked in during my training and just knowing that when I actually do get back there’s going to be great receivers in front of me.”

 

“It brought me closer to my loved ones,” he said. “It brought me closer to the game. It made me actually not take this game for granted and just understand the league doesn’t need anybody.”

 

Assuming Bradberry is gone, Rodgers is in the mix with Kelee Ringo, Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean to start opposite Darius Slay.

And Rodgers says he’s a better player now than before he had to sit out the 2023 season.

 

“I’d say I’m faster,” he said. “I think that’s the one thing I can say. I worked on my speed (during the) offseason. I worked on my hands. I think just making plays on the ball is one thing that I definitely played a factor in throughout this offseason, just building up my speed.”

 

Interestingly, Rodgers said the Eagles were the only team that contacted him after the Colts released him in late June of last year.

 

And even though he wasn’t allowed in the NovaCare Complex and couldn’t talk to his coaches, it helped to know he was an Eagle. Even though he really wasn’t yet.

 

“Just knowing that they were a team that wanted me despite the whole entire suspension, just knowing that I had a place that I’ll continue to work there an offseason?” he said. “(It motivated me) to come back and be a better player.”

 

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