NFL insider provides positive update on Hendon Hooker ACL recovery

Former Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker is off to the NFL after a prolific and program-altering pair of seasons in Knoxville. After putting up just over 6,000 yards through the air in slightly under two seasons, Hooker’s senior season was cut short with the worst injury of them all: the dreaded ACL tear.

Hooker was a likely Heisman finalist and had Tennessee in the College Football Playoff hunt for much of the year before going down. An injury that just sucked for Hooker and the Vols.

However, Hooker’s recovery is apparently going quite well. Now that the 25-year-old has left his collegiate career behind him, it’s time to look towards the NFL Draft, where he’s almost certain to be picked at some point this coming spring. How high and to which team he’ll go are questions that depend almost entirely on the health of his leg. According to NFL insider Tom Pelissero, the healing process is going well for Hooker and he’s already ditched the crutches following his surgery.

Here was the latest on Hooker, which Pelissero tweeted on Monday morning:

“Former Tennessee QB Hendon Hooker, who tore his left ACL on Nov. 19, is off crutches and told me he should be running by end of March and ready for training camp. He’s at the @seniorbowl to speak with teams — and says he’s still the best player in the draft. More on @nflnetwork.”

Wow. Have to wonder if those words came more so from Hooker than from his team of doctors. Because being able to run around in March after a late November ACL tear would be quite the accomplishment, and a recovery on the cutting edge of modern medicine.

Whether he’s fully ready to go in March for the start of pre-Draft workouts or not, it’s good to hear a positive update on Hendon Hooker’s recovery just two months after he suffered the initial injury. Everybody wants to see the SEC superstar make it big in the pros.