Cowboys wide receiver Michael Gallup confident in bounce-back season in 2023

The 2022 season didn’t go as Michael Gallup had hoped. Making a comeback from tearing his ACL, the Dallas Cowboys wideout never fully got back to 100 percent health, and it was a big factor in his recording the least productive season yet in the league. Despite the disappointment, Gallup is finally starting to feel like himself again.

“Last year at this time I couldn’t walk,” Gallup said this week, via DallasCowboys.com. “We’re moving though. I got a couple of days under my belt. I was out there catching balls with Dak. I feel springy again, I feel good. It’s way different.”

The former Colorado State star tore his ACL in Week 17 of the 2021-22 season. Though he was able to make a relatively fast recovery to help Dallas to a second straight playoff run, Gallup says he was “thinking too much.”

He posted 39 receptions on 74 targets, totaling 424 yards and four touchdowns. In 2019, Gallup was able to accumulate over 1,000 receiving yards, so the Cowboys know when he’s on, he’s on.

“You go out there, you want to play like you always play,” Gallup said. “You know how you’re supposed to play. That didn’t happen for me last year. I was thinking too much. My knee was feeling sore and it was just different.”

Gallup returning to form

Gallup did everything he could to keep from internalizing negativity but it was hard to avoid the irritated fans on social media. After signing the receiver to a five-year deal worth $57.5 million, some Cowboys fans questioned the major investment.

On top of trying to stay positive, Gallup had to learn how to recover properly, even when he returned to the field. He had a calf strain in 2021 that put him on IR, but that injury didn’t compare to tearing his ligament and losing his mobility.

“I never had a big injury like that, it was different,” Gallup said. “I had to work a little bit harder. I had to do some things that I’ve never had to do. I could normally just walk out on the field and play and I couldn’t do that. I gotta warm my body now. But it was good, though. That’s part of growing pains.”

Despite a couple of down years in production, Gallup is heading into the 2023 season “very confident.” The Cowboys have done extensive re-vamping of the staff and made some significant roster changes as well. The front office is still in his corner and Gallup plans to prove them right this year.

“I’m very confident I’ll feel like that guy again,” he said. “Very confident. It just feels different. It’s kind of in the air. I smile every time I walk in that facility.”