Blue receiver out the better part of three seasons after fracturing leg in NFL game

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This article was published 02/08/2016 (3359 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A gruesome injury in the third quarter of an NFL preseason game in 2013 was only supposed to sideline Kris Adams for a season.

Three years later, Adams will finally get back onto the gridiron Wednesday night with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers when they welcome the Hamilton Tiger-Cats to town.

Adams’ road back from that night at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh has been long and filled with plenty of potholes. Battling for a spot at receiver, Adams, then a member of the New York Giants, slipped while running a route, landing on the foot of the defensive back covering him and causing Adams to tumble awkwardly while getting his foot caught in the process.

He was only supposed to be out for a year following surgery to repair his fractured leg. He returned the next season, but it was too early and he was forced under the knife again. Cut from the Giants, the Bombers came calling in 2015, but having learned from his past, Adams chose to let the leg heal fully this time.

“I was still kind of nervous,” he said Tuesday afternoon. “I ran routes by myself a couple times and it didn’t feel how I wanted it to feel. I took it really, really slow. I think it helped me.”

On Tuesday, Adams was clad in the jersey he will wear when he takes his place in the starting lineup of a decimated receiving core. At 28, Adams feels he has a lot left in the gas tank, but concedes there’s a lot of work ahead if he’s to stick around in the game.

“I feel like I got something to prove to myself,” he said. “I just want to know if I can make it all the way through. I can still play. It’s been three years, so I might have a little rust, but I want to make it through and have a good performance out there.”

A nagging hamstring issue forced Adams out of training camp and off the team for a short time. He was released earlier this spring but rehabbed with the team, eventually being re-signed and stashed on the six-game injured list.

“A lot of unfortunate events had to unfold for me to get this opportunity,” he said, talking about his injuries and the team’s. “That’s the way of the game. It’s been like that since I started playing when I was little — next man up. When you get that opportunity, you need to make the most of it.”

Adams and quarterback Matt Nichols have spent time on the sidelines this year watching the game unfold. Nichols feels there’s an advantage to it amongst the frustration of not playing.

“You’re always trying to take mental reps,” Nichols said. “Physically, he has that part down. He’s done a good job of being attentive in the meeting rooms and behind the play. Mentally, he’s very sharp. He’s a guy that’s shown he knows what’s going on.”

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Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea said Tuesday the team kept Adams around as long as it did based on what they saw when he was healthy in training camp.

“Big, tall receiver, athletic and most importantly for (the injury) situation,” O’Shea said. “He knows exactly what he’s supposed to do.”

scott.billeck@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @scottbilleck

Scott Billeck
Reporter

Scott Billeck is a general assignment reporter for the Free Press. A Creative Communications graduate from Red River College, Scott has more than a decade’s worth of experience covering hockey, football and global pandemics. He joined the Free Press in 2024.  Read more about Scott.

Every piece of reporting Scott produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.