2016 first-round pick Josh Doctson recently tweeted that he was 100 percent, signaling another step closer to a return to full health for the talented 24-year-old.
With the luxury of already having DeSean Jackson, Pierre Garçon and Jamison Crowder on the roster, the Washington Redskins wanted to take it slow with Josh Doctson during a rookie season that was marred by various Achilles injuries.
Doctson missed a majority of offseason workouts along with the entirety of training camp and the preseason before returning in time for the regular season opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Even though Doctson was prepared to make his professional debut on-time, he also knew that he was behind the eight ball a little bit.
"I'm not going to step foot on Monday night or put a uniform on there and get myself embarrassed," Doctson said at the time. "We've got guys, Pierre, Jackson, Crowder, [Jordan] Reed, we've got guys who are going to get it done. If somebody gets tired, I'm going to go in there and help out. That's my position."
Doctson would appear in spot relief in the first two games of the season, appearing on 31 offensive plays and catching two passes for 66 yards including a 57-yard bomb from Kirk Cousins against the Dallas Cowboys.
But that would be the 24 year old's last catch of the season. He was a last-minute scratch in Week 3 before being placed on Injured Reserve in October.
It was a difficult debut year for Washington's first-round pick in the 2016 NFL Draft, but it appears he's now ready to go just in time for the start of offseason workouts.
With the 22nd pick in the 2016 NFL Draft, the Washington Redskins selected wide receiver Josh Doctson of TCU. Take a look at his collegiate career in photos.
"I'm happy," Redskins head coach Jay Gruden said last week at the NFL's annual League Meetings in Phoenix when asked about the tweet. "That's a big thing with him. We took it really slow. I think Larry Hess and the training room did a great job with him. We sent him to a lot of doctors to try and figure out what was wrong with him. We took it slow and I think he's in a good place mentally and that's half the battle. We'll continue to gradually build him through OTAs and the mandatory camp so hopefully we'll get him to full speed in training camp and go from there. I'm excited as heck to watch him play."
The Redskins will expect more out of Doctson this season, especially with the departures of Jackson and Garçon to other NFC teams in free agency while Terrelle Pryor Sr. and Brian Quick need time to acclimate to a new offense.
Doctson's already gotten a jump on his second season with the Redskins, as he went to Florida with some of the other wide receivers to work on timing with Cousins.
"It's great to have our guys down there, especially some of the new guys and Josh too because he has not thrown a ball to Josh but for maybe a couple of weeks," Gruden said. "It's good to have Josh get lined up and work the route concepts and Kirk to get to know what type of receiver the is. He is different from what he is used to throwing to, he is a different type of target with different speed, height and all that stuff. He needs to get used to the timing. Terrelle Pryor obviously too, those are two different unique individuals you have to get used to."
