ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — If Tim Patrick wants advice during his recovery from ACL surgery, all he has to do is walk downstairs into what some would call his basement.
“It’s a man cave,” Patrick said
Patrick invited fellow Broncos wide receiver KJ Hamler to live with him, his wife and his daughter at his home.
“He’s living nice—nicer than he was,” Patrick said.
Injuries have defined Hamler’s three-year NFL career. When he’s been on the field, his speed has opened up Denver’s passing attack, but recurring hamstring issues, a concussion, and a torn ACL that came with some damage have kept him out of 27 of the Broncos’ 50 games since he joined the team. Hamler tore his pec this offseason and targets a return during training camp.
Patrick thinks better off-field habits could help Hamler’s health.
“I feel like I’m a good routine guy, and I felt like I just wanted him to get on my routine to help him be able to achieve the goals he wants to achieve in the NFL,” Patrick said. “It always starts with your routine, and I felt like if we both got on the same routine, we could help each other out.”
Patrick tore his ACL during last year’s training camp, about a year after Hamler tore his. Hamler has been outspoken about the mental struggles of being away from the team while recovering from the injury. He and Courtland Sutton, who tore his ACL, have been key pieces of Patrick’s support group.
The injuries have meant that the four-man receiver group the Broncos built in 2020—Jerry Jeudy, Patrick, Hamler and Sutton—has only played a few games fully intact. Patrick thinks that will change this fall.
“It’ll be amazing,” Patrick said. “It’s been something that we all want. That’s the whole point of me asking KJ to live with us—to make sure that this season there’s no excuses.”
The Broncos added to the group when they drafted Marvin Mims Jr. out of Oklahoma in the second round of April’s draft.
“He’s fast,” Patrick said. “I think his ceiling is very high. He’s going to have a big role this year.”
Patrick is participating in practices and thinks he’s physically back from the torn ACL. He’s still waiting for a full feel of everything happening around him on the field to return.
He said the recovery process wasn’t all that difficult.
“I’ve broken my leg before—in half,” Patrick said. “This was way easier than that.”
Patrick went to Dr. Neal S. ElAttrache for the surgery. ElAttrache has repaired ACLs for a number of big-name athletes, including Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow and 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa, who both won NFL Comeback Player of the Year after the surgery.
“The guys he has done recently came back better than they were before,” Patrick said.
Even if the recovery went smoothly, Patrick still wished he was on the field.
“There are some things you can’t do in regular life that you can do in football,” Patrick said.
Two of those things, according to Patrick, are hitting people legally and talking trash.
“I can’t talk trash with my girl. I can’t talk trash with my baby,” Patrick said. “They’re a little soft.”
Maybe having Hamler around will give Patrick somebody to jab.
