equal trainers with one of them totally dedicated, Britt Brown, to rehab and that particular area," Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said when answering question about the logic behind Carter's selection. "So I am real comfortable when we take a player that is in rehab because of the attention we give it and Britt Brown."
Not every player heals at the same pace, but if Carter were here now, as he might have been by this coming Monday without a lockout, he would still be rehabbing and not taking part in any minicamps or OTAs. The goal would be to be ready maybe by the start of training camp, but that all would depend. Because if you think about it, if training camp starts on time, which normally would be the final week in July, Carter would be just seven months removed from his ACL surgery, which normally is considered to be a 7- to 9-month rehab, with 100-percent recovery like a year removed from that.
So there is a good chance if camp starts on time that the Cowboys place Carter on PUP or even non-football injury since the injury occurred prior to the Cowboys owning his rights. That way they could buy him another six weeks of rehab, and then if he still wasn't ready for the start of the season they could retain his rights without taking up a spot on the 53-man roster (PUP eligible) or having to place him on injured reserve.
And the best thing is, at least it seems from what Carter says, the 23-year-old understands successfully rehabbing his knee for the long term is his primary goal, and not to necessarily be ready for the start of camp or even the season.
"You may feel better than how they project you to feel so you just have to take everything in stride," Carter said. "And believe them and trust in them that they are going to get you back to 100 percent.
"(Doctors) are saying I will be ready sometime during training camp. I will have to work my way in and slowly get into it."
Sounds good. Sounds as if Carter thoroughly understands.
The Cowboys, they certainly understand, too, having dealt with umpteen ACLs.
Now, hopefully, you guys totally understand, too.
