Look, nothing is set in stone for the Detroit Lions right now. But we can talk about vibes, right? At the moment, the vibes around Lions safety Brian Branch are pretty good. How good?

Branch could potentially be returning from his torn Achilles injury during training camp and play Week 1

Yeah, that good. Now, we need to temper the expectations just a bit here. Nothing is guaranteed. I can’t stress that enough at this time. It’s all vibes. What I can tell you is that Branch posted his rehab the other day, and he looks good. The other thing I can tell you is that Dan Campbell and the Lions see no setbacks with him, and Campbell certainly didn’t say no when asked if he could be back for camp.

“He could be. Campbell said. “There are no setbacks with him. That’s what I can tell you. He’s doing a good job. He’s putting in the work, but until we really get closer. I hate to start throwing a timetable on him, you know. But he’s doing well.”

So that’s where it’s at right now. Nothing is set in stone, but it’s not a no. It’s not a “he’s not going to be back for a while” or anything like that.

How is it possible? At the end of the day, we don’t know where he tore the Achilles or how bad the tear was. That makes a huge difference. For example, in December, we talked with the Bone and Joint Institute of Tennessee’s Director of Rehabilitation Services and former NFL offensive lineman Dave Kempfert, and he told us about the speedbridge procedure.

“There is often an option for what is called the SpeedBridge surgery for Achilles ruptures,” Kempfert said. “This is potentially why we have seen NFL players, such as Cam Akers, return to sport faster. Again, I am not familiar at all with the specifics of Brian Branch’s injury and would not advocate for a particular course of treatment, as that decision is left to his physician. However, the SpeedBridge surgery is another example of an advancing medical technique used to return athletes back to the field faster.”

“For most people, it’s going to be a year or more to return to full activity after an Achilles repair, and that depends not only on the surgical technique but on the quality of the rehab, the effort of the patient, and the physical makeup of the patient as well. With this surgery, we have seen people return as early as 5–7 months to elite-level competitive sport.”

Branch’s Achilles tear was on December 5th. That was six months ago. Again, we’re just stating a possibility here. We don’t know what the tear was like, what procedure he had, and we’re not doctors. Just stating one way that a potential return could happen this fast.

So we’ll see what happens at training camp in July, and we’ll see if Branch is able to get out there and get ready for the start of the season.

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