UCF QB says it’s 50/50 he’ll play
Milton continues his rehabilitation despite uncertainty of pandemic.
Injured UCF quarterback McKenzie Milton said Thursday there is a 50-50 chance he’ll be able to play football again during the 2020 season.
With his teammates scattered across the country in their homes waiting out the coronavirus outbreak, Milton is still in Orlando rehabbing his knee with the UCF athletic training staff. His progress captured has been highlighted during social media posts, including time he has spent wearing a mask and working in the team’s weight room with teammate Brandon Moore, who is recovering from a torn ACL he suffered during the Knights’ 2019 season opener.
“It’s still my goal. I go to see my surgeon in June and I’ll know a lot at that point,”
“It’s still my goal. I go to see my surgeon in June and I’ll know a lot at that point.”
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UCF quarterback McKenzie Milton on returning from a gruesome leg injury
Milton said of his push to play during the upcoming football season. “The reason I set that goal is because I want to approach my rehab every day with the idea that I would be ready to go for fall camp and be a go for North Carolina in our first game. If I’m not approaching it that way then I feel like I would be missing days in therapy and not working as hard as I can.
“That’s why I set that goal and I hope to reach that and if I don’t, it is what it is and I’ll just keep knocking block-by-block.”
Milton missed all of last season while recovering from a career-threatening knee injury that nearly cost him his right leg. After multiple surgeries and months of grueling rehabilitation, Milton is slowly making his way back onto the football field.
“I’m not a betting man, … but right now I would say 50-50,” he said. “It’s still up in the air, but I’ve been making big progress. But it’s a long way to go and I’m not sure what my surgeon is going to say when we go up there in June.
“I hope that he clears me, but if he doesn’t, it is what it is. It’s been a long hard process and I’ve learned patience through all of this and if I have to wait longer, so be it. If not, whatever he does clear me to do I’ll take that and run with it.”
He watched as teammate
Gabe Davis was selected two weeks ago by the Buffalo Bills in the NFL draft, documenting the moment on Instagram. Hours later, he was outside throwing footballs to Davis and several other former and current teammates, including Tre’Quan Smith.
A few days later, he was back at it, throwing footballs to several former players, including Jordan Akins, Dredrick Snelson, Davis and Smith along with current teammate Jacob Harris in a video shot by Spectrum News 13.
Each time, he raised the hopes among fans that Milton could return to the football field sooner rather than later.
“I’ve been making a lot of progress,” Milton said. “I’ve been going therapy just about every day at the school. They still have the training room open for about five of us that are long term injured guys. There’s me, Brandon Moore, Jordan Davis, Alex Holler and Jared Baker. All knee guys. We’ve been in there rehabbing and making big strides. I’m feeling good, I’m feeling strong. Upper body, lower body.”
In January, Milton’s mother shared the news on Twitter that her son was transitioning to a less bulky knee brace to one that was lighter and gave him more mobility. He’s been sporting that brace during workouts, including during the team’s spring practices before the camp closed due to concerns about the spread of
COVID-19.
Milton said he sees progress with his rehabilitation and it’s been encouraging for him.
“In the past few weeks I’ve been doing a lot of single-leg jumps and at first it’s kind of hard because with the nerve damage, it takes a little while for it to wake up,” Milton said. “At first, it was hard to do explosive stuff, but in the past three weeks it’s gotten a lot easier and I’m definitely feeling a lot more athletic doing that kind of stuff. Single leg jumps on my surgical leg.
“Seeing the progress is like seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.”
Another bright spot has been the development of UCF true freshman Dillon Gabriel, who stepped into the starting quarterback role last season. Milton has embraced Gabriel, who is also from Hawaii and attended the same high school as his predecessor.
“He’s like a little brother to me,” Milton said of Gabriel. “As I said in past interviews, he’s way farther along as a freshman than I was and that’s a credit to his hard work and how he pushes himself in the weight room, the training room and the film room.”
But Milton is well aware of the competitive nature of the position, particularly if he can come back from his injury.
“I think it will be a little more competitive once I’ve been fully cleared,” he said. “We’re all competing for that job with me, Dillon, DJ [Darriel Mack Jr.], Quadry [Jones] and Parker Navarro, who’s coming in as a freshman. But at the same time, whoever is at the helm, we’re all going to support each other like I did last year.
“It killed me not to be on the field because I’ve played football every year since I was in the second grade. It was tough watching, but also rewarding to see a young man who went to my high school and now at the same university as me and he’s going to do some special things here.”
While football fills a big part of Milton’s life, it’s not the only thing he’s focusing on now that UCF has completed its spring semester. He posted a video and photos earlier this week of a fishing trip with some friends.
“I’ve gone fishing before, but I’ve never caught any fish,” Milton quipped. “[I] went on Wekiva River down near Altamonte [Springs], it was beautiful. I caught my first bass. It was a blast.”
Milton said he spends much of his time playing video games and watching television while hanging out with his mom and dog.
“I’m honestly been trying to stay indoors as much as possible besides going to the school because I don’t want to put anyone at risk out there,” he said.