Detroit Lions wide receiver Ryan Broyles is giving Adrian Peterson a run for his money in advancing the anterior cruciate ligament recovery timetable.
Just more than a year removed from tearing his left ACL at Oklahoma, Broyles underwent right ACL surgery in December. Not long after the latter injury, Lions general manager Martin Mayhew predicted Broyles would be limited in training camp and unreliable until the middle of the 2013 season.
Broyles already has shattered Mayhew's expectations, returning to full participation in last week's mandatory minicamp.
The Lions might play it cautiously and send Broyles to the physically unable to perform list when training camp opens, but the wide receiver doesn't expect that to happen. In fact, Broyles believes he will be back to full speed for the start of the regular season.
"I'm out there doing full practices right now so in a couple months I feel like I'll be pretty good," Broyles told Josh Katzenstein of the Detroit News on Sunday.
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Broyles' recovery has been impressive enough that the Lions' official website recently predicted a breakout season for him as the slot receiver.
Outside of Calvin Johnson's record-setting performance, the Lions didn't have a single wide receiver with 400 yards last season. The silver lining is that Broyles hauled in 21 passes for 307 yards in a six-game stretch before the knee injury. Barring a setback, Broyles will play in three-wide sets with Johnson and Nate Burleson, bringing Burleson's Patrick Edwards hype train to a screeching halt.
Follow Chris Wesseling on Twitter @ChrisWesseling.
