When Arik Armstead underwent knee surgery two days after his former team’s Super Bowl loss to the Chiefs, it was apparent that he would be missing most, if not all, of the offseason. That makes it no surprise that the Jaguars have placed their newly acquired defensive lineman on the active/physically unable to perform list.
Armstead revealed after the season finale that he had suffered a torn meniscus at the beginning of December during the 49ers’ roadtrip to Philadelphia. The 30-year-old has already had an extensive history of dealing with injuries in his career since coming out of Oregon. Since being selected in the first round in 2015, Armstead has missed 31 regular season contests. He missed large expanses of time in both his second and third seasons before rebounding with a show of health for the next four years. Unfortunately, 2022 saw the return of some demons for the veteran as he missed 13 games over the last two seasons.
The silver lining of this history of maladies is that he hasn’t seemed to have a trick knee or bum shoulder that is continuously a point of concern with these injuries. Early upper body ailments have more recently been replaced with lower body injuries. There is a little cause for potential concern as the recently operated upon knee cost Armstead some time in training camp in 2022 with a sprain, though it was a hairline fracture in his fibula that led to missed games that year.
The good news is that with his extensive history of injuries comes an extensive history of recoveries. While you never wish injury on any particular player, someone with Armstead’s experience of rehabilitation stands a strong chance of a more efficient comeback. He was aiming to return in time for training camp, buy this transaction puts a bit of a damper on those plans as Jacksonville kicks off camp in three days.
Still, we’ve seen a number of players already pass physicals even a day after being placed on their respective injured lists. Without much more insight into the status of Armstead’s rehab, he could come off the list tomorrow or he could be at risk of missing regular season time. Time will tell as the Jaguars begin to come back for the summer.