The Washington Redskins have another player besides Robert Griffin III coming back from major injury. Linebacker Brian Orakpo had his 2012 season cut short after tearing his pectoral muscle in Week 2 of the season. While his injury has been overshadowed by the ACL tear suffered by Griffin, the pass rusher is making sure that both he and the quarterback have strong comeback seasons in 2013.
"If we can both get Comeback Player of the Year honors, that would be remarkable, that would mean we did something special as a team. Me and Griff worked extremely hard to not let our fans and this team down, because we know how much they rely on both of us. If we come back at full strength like I know we both will, we're going to be a team to be reckoned with," Orakpo said.
While Orakpo chases comeback awards, he is also setting his sights on Defensive Player of the Year. He believes that the work he has put in to get healthy and grow during the offseason make the honor very obtainable in 2013.
Orakpo is entering his fifth season in the NFL after being drafted in the first round back in 2009. The linebacker proved to be very productive in three healthy seasons, accounting for 28.5 sacks between 2009-11. While his recovery has not been documented as heavily as Griffin's, the second-year quarterback believes the linebacker's hard work is paying off.
"Rak's been great. It was tough to see him there on the sideline the whole year. He's doing a good job coming back from his injury 100%. He's been firing off the ball. He's explosive. He's very excited to be back and it tell every day in practice because he's out there busting his butt," Griffin said.
Both Griffin and Orakpo set the pace for their respective units on the team. Orakpo has been aware of that since he got injured and knew that it was necessary he came back to the team at full strength as soon as possible.
The linebacker stresses that he is ahead of schedule in his rehab progress. Orakpo spent most of the offseason down in Texas where he played college football. He believes that both he and Griffin will be fully healed and ready to play Week 1 of the upcoming season.