Five months removed from knee surgery, Arizona Cardinals running back Beanie Wells is not sure if he'll be on the practice field when the team begins its OTAs on Tuesday.
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"I am hopeful, but it's offseason stuff," Wells told Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com. "Being ready for training camp is the most important thing."
A 2009 first-round pick, Wells is coming off his most productive season, during which he started 14 of 15 games and rushed for 1,047 yards and 10 touchdowns while playing over 55 percent of the Cardinals' offensive snaps. More than half of Wells' production, including six of his 10 touchdowns, came in four games -- his first three games of the season and a 228-yard performance in Week 12 against the St. Louis Rams, the league's 31st-ranked run defense. In the other 10 games, Wells gained just 498 yards, averaging 3.1 yards per carry with four touchdowns, as he dealt with his right knee injury, which required two surgeries in the span of 16 months.
With 2011 second-round pick Ryan Williams coming off a torn patellar tendon (which usually require nine to 12 months of recovery time) and possibly opening training camp on the physically-unable-to-perform list, there's no reason to rush Wells' recovery. The Cardinals are not installing a new system and have four other running backs on the roster who could use a longer look.