When Isaiah Wynn ran out of the tunnel at Nissan Stadium on Saturday night, he was ready. It had been 366 days since the first-round draft pick saw game action. During that preseason game against the Philadelphia Eagles, Wynn's rookie season came to a screeching halt after he suffered a season ending Achilles injury. While the road back wasn't always easy, it was the strong support from his teammates that helped Wynn return even better.
"I really wouldn't call it nervous," Wynn said of playing last Saturday night. "I was more excited than I was nervous. Being injured comes with its ups and downs. I handled it pretty well because of the guys I had around. I talked a lot to the veterans who had been in the same situation. I was able to learn from them."
In Saturday's game against the Titans, Wynn got the start at left tackle. He played a total of 19 snaps and was impressive. It didn't seem like the second-year missed a beat as he led the way for Brandon Bolden to get in to the end zone for a touchdown to start the second quarter.
"It was good to get Isaiah out there," Bill Belichick said on a conference call after the game. "We'll build on that, see where we are next week for the Carolina game and going forward, but it was good to have him out there. We'll just take it from here and see how it goes."
While Wynn spent the majority of his first season in New England rehabbing, the Georgia product still had a productive year. He spent time learning the playbook and got acclimated to the routine, culture, and expectations in Foxborough. Though you can't replace live game reps, Wynn feels that going through the injury made him better.
"It's all a part of the game. You never know when an injury is going to occur, but you just have to keep going and do everything you can. Every single day you're just growing a little bit more."
With a short week to prepare for the third preseason game on Thursday, it will be interesting to see how Wynn adapts to the quick turnaround while building off his performance in Tennessee.
