Central WR Justyn Ross recovering well from ACL injury

For the average human being, an ACL injury could mean a year out of commission and permanent knee troubles. For an elite athlete like Central wide receiver Justyn Ross, it’s just a small hill for a climber.

Ross — one of the top wide receiver recruits in the country for 2018 with offers from Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Florida State, Georgia and Southern California, among others — tore his anterior cruciate ligament during the Shaw Christmas basketball tournament in December. Charging toward the basket it the tournament’s championship game, his right knee buckled and he stumbled out of the gym in pain. There was little doubt as to the extent of the injury that night.

What was in doubt was how long it would take for him to recover. An ACL injury, for strong athletes, can take anywhere from 8-12 months to recover from, and even then there is no guarantee how strong the knee will be when the player returns.

With an injury of that magnitude just eight months before the 2016 football season was set to begin, who knew whether Ross’ junior year would even materialize?

Well, Ross did, for starters.

“Nothing much,” he said of what he was thinking in the immediate aftermath of the injury. “I just knew I was going to have to come back and work.”

That’s what he’s done over the past six and a half months. After sufficiently healing from his surgery, he began simple leg lifts and worked his way up from there. As of Thursday afternoon at a team workout at the school, he was running at about three-quarters speed with full motion in his knee. He isn’t cutting or lifting the same amount of weight yet, but both he and trainer Bryce Ciancio expect that to come over the course of the next month or month and a half.

“He looks good now,” Ciancio said. “There are people who think he should be playing right now, but I think taking care is the most important thing. Like I’ve told him, you aren’t going to win a state championship in June or July.”

Reining in the ultra-competitive athlete, in fact, has been the biggest challenge in the rehabilitation process, according to Ciancio and coach Jamey DuBose. As coaches, trainers and doctors, DuBose said, they are making sure there is no reinjury, first and foremost, but also that he will be 100 percent when he gets back on the field.

“Anytime there’s an athlete, a competitive athlete that really has the juices flowing, the fight to get back once you’re out is great,” DuBose said. “That’s what you’re seeing with Justyn Ross. He’s got the ability right now to push himself to try to get back, to try to be even bigger and faster than he was.”

“That’s what makes him such a good athlete,” Ciancio said of Ross’ competitive nature. “The biggest thing is reining that in and making sure he doesn’t overdo it. But he’s chomping at the bit to do more.”

It’s been a long process already, Ross said, with rehab work two days out of every week along with the normal team workouts. It’s a matter of getting his strength back, he said, which is happening on or ahead of schedule.

Asked if he expects to be a full go by the start of the season, Ross responded quickly.

“I’ll be ready,” he said, adding he expects to be cleared either late next month or early in August. Ciancio echoed that estimation, though DuBose, who wants to be cautious, mentioned August as the most likely return to full practice.

In fact, Ross said, he thinks he could be even better because of the work ethic and isolated training it has provided for his lower body. DuBose said he’s seen that in the past, where the extra work on that specific area of the body following an injury can actually improve speed or leaping ability.

Ross was the second Red Devil to go through ACL surgery during the 2015-16 academic year. Quarterback Zion Webb suffered a torn ligament in the season-opener at Stockbridge. While no one hopes to see two key players suffer such serious injuries, it was beneficial for both to go through the process around the same time.

Webb, who has been fully cleared to return to practice, helped Ross through the early stages of the injury, kept him motivated and occasionally had some rehab training overlap. DuBose said that he has seen no setbacks for Webb, adding that he might even be a step better than he was prior to the injury. That’s the hope for Ross, as well.

“Everything’s happened for a reason,” DuBose said. “That’s what I’ve told him. It’s just where are you going to carry yourself after that injury. He’s handled himself greatly. He’s done all the right things.”

This story was originally published June 17, 2016 at 3:01 PM with the headline "Central WR Justyn Ross recovering well from ACL injury."