INDIANAPOLIS – The ACL injury came Nov. 8, 2015, bringing a tremendous rookie campaign to a screeching halt.
Henry Anderson was sidelined until late August 2016, when he returned to preseason practice.
The Colts finally freed Anderson as a full practice participant on Sept. 17.
Practice continued the following week and Anderson made his return to game action in Week Three of the 2016 season.
Anderson was back. But not really.
After such a promising rookie season, the ACL rehab never allowed for Anderson to feel fully healthy in his second professional year.
"I didn't have the season that I wanted to," Anderson says of playing 11 games, with two starts, last year.
"The knee was definitely nagging me. It was incredibly frustrating."
In 2015, Anderson started the first nine games of the season and played 447 snaps.
In 2016, Anderson saw action in 11 games, but played 139 fewer snaps than he had the previous year.
This time of year has been totally different than last offseason for Anderson.
A little rest, some yoga, a vacation and now back to work has Anderson feeling good.
"The knee is starting to get back to normal and I feel 100 percent again," Anderson says. "Definitely excited to be 100 percent going into next year and hopefully get back to where I was my rookie year.
"I think that (having a full offseason program) will definitely help. Last year, there was a lot of times in games that I was making mistakes that I would make in Training Camp. Once you make the mistake in Training Camp, you kind of fix it the next time it comes at you. For me, it was during the season I was making a lot of these mistakes that you wouldn't usually make. Going through these OTAs, minicamp and Training Camp and to be able to kind of gel with the other D-lineman will help out a lot once the season rolls around."
If Anderson can return to his 2015-self this season, the Colts defense will benefit greatly from a key piece to the current, and future, success on that side of the ball.
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