Commanders Tight End Logan Thomas Happy With His Progression From Knee Injury

Logan Thomas shares injury update, happy with his progression originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington

Logan Thomas entered the media annex in Ashburn with a smile on his face and immediately expressed his glee to see the press in person again. It’s been a while since he’s seen the media, or the gridiron.

After sustaining a season-ending knee injury in Week 13 of last year, Thomas has been aching to return to some sense of normalcy as the starting tight end for the Washington Commanders. He shared an update on his rehab after mandatory minicamp on Tuesday.

“I know the next question is probably timeline. Timeline for me: would love to be back for Week 1, that’s my goal,” Thomas said. “If it doesn’t happen, I don’t feel right, feel like I got limitations, then I’ll come back when I’m ready…Week 1 would be great, if not, so be it.”

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Thomas, 30, had surgery on his knee on Dec. 17 of last year and told the Sports Junkies at the time that the initial recovery time would place him back in action around Week 4 of 2022. If that 10-month timeline is accurate, it looks like the tight end could be ahead of schedule even if he hasn’t suited up yet this offseason.

“Knee’s doing good, happy with the progression so far,” Thomas said. “Thankful it’s gone the way it has. God’s blessed me with decent recovery skills, so thankful for that.”

Thomas did harp again and again, fittingly, on how monotonous his rehab process has been. ACL recovery entails grueling months of physical therapy, which oftentimes wears on the mental as hard as the physical.

But while Thomas has been going through the motions, the Commanders have made moves to shore up the tight end room around him. Former wide receiver Antonio Gandy-Golden has shifted to TE, plus Washington just drafted Cole Turner out of Nevada in the fifth round a couple months ago. 

Though it’s a crowded position group, Thomas has a spot waiting for him when he returns.

“I’m getting better and better every day,” Thomas said. “Every Monday I feel significantly better. The weeks can be tough, they get a little monotonous, but I’m doing well there and I’m very thankful.”

Thomas reported back in April that he was at the ‘jogging stage’ of his recovery, but made a point of saying he’s not rushing the rehab process. He shared on Tuesday that he’s now at the jumping stage and is at a ‘75% run’ clip.

Thomas also noted that we'll have to 'wait and see' if he'll be ready to participate in Commanders' training camp, which starts in about six weeks. Entering his ninth NFL season, the veteran’s body has been through its fair share of wear and tear.

“Obviously last year, there was a little confusion of what [the injury] actually was, so we went into surgery,” he said. “They cut it open, figured out what it was…it ended up being ACL, MCL and repair both meniscus.”

It was a tough break for Thomas to go down late last season. He was placed on injured reserve with hamstring issues after Week 4, only to be sidelined again for the rest of the season nine weeks later. Even through all that, the bulking pass-catcher accumulated three touchdowns and almost 200 receiving yards in six games.

The hit that brutalized Thomas caused some controversy. Raiders edge rusher Yannick Ngakoue undercut Thomas as the Commander swept across the line of scrimmage to block for the run. Ngakoue was not fined for the hit, but Ron Rivera did note after the game that he felt the collision was an avoidable play.

“That’s one of those things I’d like to keep to myself,” Thomas said when asked if he thought it was a dirty play, grinning slightly. “I think there’s a feeling in our building how we feel towards it, but it is what it is. It’s football, man. Stuff happens all the time, weird hits happen.”

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