The Buffalo Bills boasted a playoff-worthy defense in 2014 without one of their best young players.
Linebacker Kiko Alonso missed the entire season with an ACL tear in this left knee, suffered while working out last summer. The 2013 Rookie of the Year candidate told the team's official website this week he won't be hindered once training camp starts.
"I anticipate being 100 percent before camp," he said. "By camp, I definitely feel I'll be at 100 percent. I feel very good with where I'm at. By camp I'll be full go."
Seven months removed from surgery, Alonso said he's rehabbing "four-five days a week" but didn't say how much running he's able to do at this stage.
It can often take players more than a year to regain their full form after an ACL tear, especially at a position in which starting-and-stopping is vital.
One benefit for Alonso is that when he does return to the field he shouldn't have much work to re-learn his inside linebacker spot with coach Rex Ryan taking over. Alonso's role should be similar to the one he played under Ryan's former protégé, Mike Pettine, in 2013.
That defense made Alonso a playmaker and gave him a cult-like following in Buffalo. We'll be glad when the linebacker returns to the field to create more fodder for the Legend of Kiko and gets out of the Chunky Soup kitchen.
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