Lions DB Okudah all smiles after ‘living a nightmare’ with rehab
When his aunt picked him up from Ford Field last fall, Jeff Okudah sat in the car and cried.
The diagnosis was not yet confirmed, but the former Ohio State Buckeye knew his season — the one he was so looking forward to after a rough rookie year with the Detroit Lions — was over, and a long, grueling rehab from a ruptured Achilles tendon was ahead.
Speaking for the first time since his Sept. 12 injury, Okudah detailed his recovery and said the advice he received from two NBA players helped get him to the point he is at now: ready to make “a comeback you can be proud of.”
“Obviously, you try to stay optimistic in moments like that, but the second I got in the car with my aunt, like I just broke down, started crying,” Okudah said. “A lot of emotion kind of poured over me, and she’s never really seen me cry before, but it was a lot because I just had big hopes for the last year, so that day was really, I was down. It kind of felt like I was living a nightmare, honestly, man. So to be here now and smiling, it’s just a blessing cause I know where I was at mentally and came a long way.”
Okudah injured his left Achilles in a 41-33 season-opening loss to the San Francisco 49ers. After trainers made their initial diagnosis, which was confirmed by an MRI the next day, Okudah said he Googled “torn Achilles” to learn what he was dealing with.
Okudah saw horror stories. Seattle Seahawks cornerback Sidney Jones and ex-lions running back Mikel Leshoure never returned to their preinjury form. But Okudah learned of plenty of successful rehabs, too. He took inspiration from Rams running back Cam Akers’ return after six months, and he spoke with NBA players John Wall and Demarcus Cousins about their rehabs after reaching out to both on Instagram.
“They just kind of gave me the confidence that the Achilles will be the least of your worries,” Okudah said. “It’ll be about getting back mentally, taking care of the rest of your body.”
Okudah, who posted semi-regular updates of his rehab on social media in recent months, said he got through the most trying times in his recovery by leaning on some of the same stoic philosophy teachings he used while recovering last spring from the core muscle surgery that shortened his rookie year.
He also relied on experiences he gleaned from his mother, Marie, who died after a long battle with lymphoma in 2017.
“I feel like I’ve just been hungry, like I haven’t eaten in years,” Okudah said.
The Lions could opt to start him on the physically unable to perform list when training camp opens next month, though he is currently repping as the team’s first-string left cornerback, opposite Amani Oruwariye, in walkthrough drills.
The No. 3 pick of the 2020 NFL draft, Okudah declined to put a timetable on his return to full football activities or to predict what type of player he will be going forward.
“I’d rather just go out there and show you,” he said.