Q: What do you want to accomplish while you are here?
E: I'm back to see the doctor and see how everything is going. I meet with him tomorrow and he is going to check me out, see how much progress I've made. Which I can tell him now I've made tremendous progress. I'm going to see him and we are going to go from there. I think I am going to be up here for the duration of the season and just work out. I'll finish my rehab up here and train with [Mike] Woicik and do my workouts with him and just train on the side.
Q: Where do you think you are?
E: I think about 90%-95%, I am pretty close. I don't think there is any problem with me running, cutting or doing any of the functional type stuff. I think the biggest concern is just the range of motion, being bent back in some type of way. Hopefully by next year all that will be dissolved and I'll have full range.
Q: You can run at full speed right now?
E: No problem running, cutting, anything. So everything looks good.
Q: Are you surprised by this?
E: I'm not surprised but I am sure a lot of other people are. I never had any doubts. It just took a lot of hard work and a lot of dedication and a lot of missed time from the game.
Q: How far do you think you are from actually playing in an NFL game?
E: If it was up to me I would be playing right now. But it is not up to me, I've got to get cleared by the doctors. They are going to evaluate me and I'm sure they are going to do the best thing for me because if I had to make the decision I probably would play and that probably wouldn't be the best thing for me.
Q: Do you think you can get back to the old Robert Edwards from two years ago?
E: Physically I think I will, but I think it is going to be a mental game once I get back. I think it is going to be a mental challenge. The first hit, the first cut, or somebody coming towards my knee and me trying to avoid the hit, I think that is what it is going to take, just the mental part, getting that back. I think physically I'll be capable and ready to play.
Q: Tell us about the rehab process?
E: I started out at the University of Georgia. Once they went into the season I went to New Orleans and worked out with Tom Shaw. He is a speed enhancement guy. They did great things down there to help me get my range better and work on my speed. I've been just working out twice a day. I work out in the morning, the speed work. Then at about one I go and do my rehab with the Kenner Orthopedic Clinic down there, a guy named Craig did my rehab down there. I had a well-designed plan and everything has been going great for me so far.
Q: You don't wear any braces or anything?
E: I have been away from braces a long time. Down at Georgia they didn't want me wearing braces, they didn't want it to prohibit me from doing anything and allow it to be a crutch for when I got back.
Q: How has the injury changed you mentally, your view of life?
E: It's changed a great deal. I've been hurt before and I've always been able to come back and play but something like this just changes your whole outlook on the game and how much you love the game?
Q: Can you be more specific? Is there anything you look at differently now?
E: I think I care more about the game now. I think a lot of people take for granted that they can get out there and play this game and have the ability to go out there and perform and do something they love and get paid for it. I don't think I would take just being able to walk normally for granted any more or anything like that because I was 10 minutes away from having my foot amputated. So I think just not taking everything for granted, loving the game. I'm just blessed. I thank God that I am able to have the opportunity to get back out and try to play the game I love.
Q: Have you been paying attention to the team?
E: I keep up with the team. I keep up with a lot of the guys. It is just a down year this year. I think we've been in just about every game that we've played and just couldn't pull it out. And again we've got new coaches so it's a building stage and I think everything will turn around for us.
Q: How has the team/management supported you, have they kept in contact with you?
E: When the new coaches came in I think they embraced me a great deal. They allowed me to continue to rehab in Georgia and pretty much do whatever I need to do to get back. You know, go to New Orleans or work down at Georgia at the University, they just were there supporting me the whole time.
Q: Are you at your playing weight?
E: I am a little bit below my playing weight. I lost a little weight because I thought it would help me with my rehab. I didn't lose much, about four or five pounds to keep me light. It was Tom Shaw and those guys down there's idea for me to lose a little weight and try to build back up because it would help with the rehab.
Q: Have you run any 40-yard dashes and been timed?
E: They wouldn't time me in 40. They didn't want to do that so I worked mainly on 10's, 20's, and I really don't know the exact times. I'm running well, no problem running. The biggest thing for me was getting in shape from being out so long.
Q: From a medical standpoint how have doctors been documenting this?
E: Every doctor that I've talked to from the time it happened to now is real impressed. They're just excited and congratulating me that I am even walking without a limp or anything let alone running. So I think it has been truly a miracle I guess from the doctor's standpoint because things like this don't happen everyday. I mean I am sure they get people back to walking, but to get out there and run and attempt to play football, I think that goes to another level.
Q: If you can't play football do you think it will be any easier for you to adjust to being a regular person than if you had never gotten injured?
E: I haven't really thought about that because I feel like if you cloud your mind with negative thoughts then you can only hold yourself down and positive things won't happen. So I try not to think about negative things. I try not to surround myself around negative people because everything is positive for me right now and I want to continue to move forward.
Q: Are you different as a person? What have you learned about yourself?
E: That I am mentally capable of overcoming anything if I put my mind to it. That nothing is impossible regardless of who tells you. This is a man's world and you are your own man. I think anybody can overcome anything if they are dedicated and just have faith.
Q: How frustrating has it been to watch the struggling running game?
E: It's tough. Like I said, it is a rebuilding stage right now and had to bring in new guys, learning new offenses, and things haven't been going well for them but I think we've got a good group of running backs right there. Things just haven't been going our way right now.
Q: What is your timetable right now? How is the pace going?
E: It is going well. I think actually I am above the projected pace. Right now I am just here working out. I am running. I am doing everything but I don't think I'll be able to touch the football field with the players until next year.
Q: You have done so much rehab away from here, what does it mean to be back here with the team?
E: It's good. I get a chance to see some of the players who were here when I was here. See new face, old faces a lot of guys welcomed me back with opened arms. So I'm excited to be back. I'm just here to support the team the rest of the time.
