Holt ‘on schedule’ after surgery
June 15th, 2007 | by Kevin Morris |
By Jim Thomas
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
After missing two games in 2005 because of a knee injury, Torry Holt thought
about surgery after that season but opted against it.
“I just didn’t want to go back under the knife,” Holt said. “I felt like if I
rehabbed and prepared and trained and did all the necessary things in the
weight room, I could get it strong enough where I could go out and compete.”
But Holt’s right knee left him no choice after last season. One look at the
wide receiver minutes after the ‘06 finale in Minnesota was telling. As the
victorious Rams headed toward the visitors’ locker room following that game,
Holt came limping up the hallway in the Metrodome.
“I was sore,” Holt said. “That last game it had gotten to the point where it
was aggravating me pretty good. But I was toughing it out. At the end of that
game, I said, ‘I’ve got to go in and have something done.’ ”
Even so, Holt held out hope of postponing surgery and playing in the Pro Bowl
six weeks later. But when he returned home, the simple act of going up and down
his basement steps was painful. He decided to pull out of the Pro Bowl and
proceed with surgery.
Holt underwent routine surgery in February for a torn meniscus cartilage in his
right knee. It was only the second knee surgery for Holt in eight NFL seasons.
The Rams’ full-squad minicamp, which concluded Thursday at Rams Park, marked
his first extensive work on the practice field since the latest surgery.
“For the most part, things are on schedule,” Holt said. “I’ve got one more
month to heal up and really strengthen it before we start training camp. So I’m
going to try to take full advantage of it.”
As a result, Holt will spend most of the lull between now and the start of
training camp working out in St. Louis.
“I still have some soreness on the inside where I had the meniscus cleaned up,”
Holt said. “But that’s going to be there. It’s just a matter of me getting more
reps and running more, and reintroducing the knee to those types of cuts that
I’m used to doing.”
In part because of the knee surgery, it has been a low-key offseason for Holt.
He did no television work. Cut down on his business ventures. Put off until
next year a planned vacation to Paris. Thursday’s get-together with a
half-dozen reporters marked his first interview session since the end of the
‘06 season.
“I’m just trying to refocus on what’s important, and that’s football — trying
to help this football team and this organization win some more championships,”
Holt said. “I’m just kind of taking a step back from the ‘quote-unquote’
limelight, and really putting a great deal of emphasis on football.”
Of course, Holt would like nothing better than a return to the limelight next
season. In large part because of the knee problems, Holt’s NFL-record string of
six consecutive 1,300-yard receiving seasons came to a halt last season. Not
that Holt’s numbers were shabby: 93 catches, 1,188 yards and 10 touchdowns.
“It’s been a rough two years for him as far as (the knee),” coach Scott Linehan
said. “None of you (reporters) would know about it, because he would never tell
you or show it on the field. But he’s been pretty sore come December. And we
plan on hopefully going much past (December).”
With the offseason addition of tight end Randy McMichael and wide receiver Drew
Bennett, among others, there is a growing degree of optimism surrounding the
offense.
“I think this offense can accomplish whatever we set our mind to,” Holt said.
“As far as comparing this offense to the Greatest Show (on Turf), there is no
comparison to me. The Greatest Show won one (Super Bowl), and we played in two.
This team, with so much promise offensively, hasn’t done anything yet.
“But I say all that to say that this offense can be really, really, really good
… I think the sky’s the limit.”
