Even though Jayson Tatum is rehabbing his ruptured Achilles tendon, he’s traveled with the Celtics on road trips. As part of a little side quest, he even visited the Ravens for practice Thursday, as shown by the team. The Celtics were in town ahead of their blowout win over the Wizards, so Tatum made the short trip over.
The videos show Tatum meeting Ravens players, including coach John Harbaugh. All-Pro safety Kyle Hamilton raved about getting to meet Tatum and had some jokes for him.
“I told him if they had a 10-day (contract) laying around, just throw it my way,” Hamilton told reporters. “I’ll go play some great defense. Just seeing a guy like that, it kind of puts the basketball dreams on the back burner. He is like 6-foot-9 and handling the ball like he’s 6-foot. Jumps out the gym, shoots the ball. But yes, it’s cool. I appreciate everybody who got him here.
“Hopefully, (they) get him back healthy soon. But yes, I would for sure be a point guard, so I’d have to work on my shot a little bit if they did give me that 10-day, but I have to focus on the football team.”
Tatum’s visited NFL practices before, including with the Patriots for joint practices. That’s when he linked up with MVP candidate Drake Maye, though nobody expected New England to be this good this fast under first-year coach Mike Vrabel. Maye, who went to North Carolina, said he enjoyed seeing Tatum even though he’s a Duke guy.
Tatum is hard at work rehabbing his Achilles injury that’s kept him out for the start of the season. It’s unclear if he’ll play this year, though his workout videos provide a peek into how he’s progressing. Tatum recently gave an update on his rehab during an appearance on the “Morris Code Show.”
“I’m feeling good,” Tatum said. “Man, it’s been a journey. This rehab (expletive) ain’t no joke. It’s been 29 weeks yesterday. So every Tuesday is a week. I’m feeling better, though. I’ve had 29 weeks to really work on my body. This is the strongest I’ve ever been. This is the best the rest of my body has ever felt.”