Parris Campbell was a broken man at the end of the 2019 Colts season, a walking MASH unit with a broken foot, a sports hernia and a broken hand.
This explains why the second-round draft choice from Ohio State appeared in just seven games with a horseshoe on his uniform as the Colts finished 7-9 and out of the playoffs. He caught 18 passes and collected about the same number of official NFL rolls of tape.
All of this being sidelined was not spelled out in Campbell’s playbook, nor did he figure to go snap, popple, crack as a human endorsement for Rice Krispies.
“It was very taxing,” Campbell said in a recent press conference.
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He said he was never injury prone before and was surprised by the continuous assaults on his body.
“During that time,” Campbell said, “injury after injury, rehab, you get to feel kind of lonely.”
Except for his family. Campbell counted on relatives for support.
There will be a new look to the Colts’ passing game this season. Last year’s incumbent quarterback, Jacoby Brisset, is now the backup with all-star veteran Philip Rivers stepping in.
Veteran T.Y. Hilton, who caught 45 balls in 10 games, also was injured and is returning. In the offseason, the Colts piled on free agent tight ends, and just the other day, they signed No. 2 draft pick Michael Pittman, another high-profile young wide receiver out of the University of Southern California. Pittman is highly regarded and is going to be pushing holdovers for time on the field chasing Rivers’ passes.
Plus, the Colts will throw to backs spurting out of the backfield. Campbell will have to stay healthy and elbow his way into the lineup to display his stuff. Campbell is 5-foot-11⅞ in height and 205 pounds in weight, neither the biggest nor smallest wide receiver prospect.
Campbell has some speed and will have to push defensive backs away to come down with the ball. He showed steady improvement over four years of college, and Indianapolis coaches will keep looking at the statistics from his senior year with the Buckeyes when it comes to evaluating potential. In 2018, Campbell caught 90 passes for 1,063 yards.
A player like Campbell would have benefited from a normal offseason, where he could show the coaches in person how he was healthy and back in top form rather than the participation in Zoom workouts because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Colts coaches had to guess through technology which players were conditioning hard, which players were training hard and which young players took advantage of their private time to make improvements. The coaches might trust their own eyes more than their own video.
There is saying and doing, saying and proving. Yet coach Frank Reich seemed to be impressed by the sample of playing time and practice time he saw with Campbell.
“Well, I’ll just say at the outset I’m super pumped about Parris where the upside is,” Reich said. “We didn’t get to see him enough. He was hurt a lot. I’m proud of the way Parris has been handling the offseason. He has been doing everything possible. He’s really determined. He still has to have some things go way and stay healthy.”
There was enthusiasm but worry in Reich’s analysis. Yes, Campbell has the skills. He may have sleeper speed. But he remains very raw. It was nobody’s fault, but Campbell is behind on practice reps. One gets the sense Reich does not want to give up on Campbell because of his injuries, but that the player has got to show some special speed or signs of advancing whenever the team gets together to practice.
Offensive coordinator Nick Sirianni has had considerable contact with Campbell about fixing his body so he comes in at full strength and so he can keep developing despite those injuries.
“High hopes for Parris to stay healthy,” Sirianni said, “and to have the type of year this year that we all know he’s capable of. The one thing I know coming out of Ohio State, one thing that we liked so much about Parris was, besides the player, besides the speed, besides the dynamic plays that he made, it was this guy is a leader, this guy is a hard worker.”
It would be easy for Campbell to be discouraged, but he does not sound demoralized. It sounds as if he has been rebuilding his psyche as well as his bones.
“I am going in with the mindset that it’s a new year,” Campbell said. “Just having the experience has helped me a lot. There is tons more stuff to learn and tons more stuff to do, but it was a good foundation for me even though it didn’t go the way I wanted it to go.”
Lew Freedman is the Sports Editor for The Tribune. Send comments to lfreedman@ aimmediaindiana.com.