Celtics' Jaylen Brown Says Jayson Tatum 'Looks Pretty Damn Good' Amid Achilles Injury Rehab

Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown has been impressed with the progress that teammate Jayson Tatum is making in his recovery from a torn Achilles.

"In terms of what I've seen, he looks pretty damn good," Brown said Saturday, per ESPN's Dave McMenamin.

Tatum has continued to ramp up his activity as of late, participating in portions of practice with the G League's Maine Celtics on Monday before returning to Boston.

He wasn't ready to confirm that he'd be returning this season after the practice, though.

"Today is 39 weeks [since the Achilles tear] so it's been a long journey," Tatum said Tuesday, via ESPN. "And it's just the progression of rehab, [this was] the next step. Doesn't mean that I'm coming back or I'm not. We're just following the plan. It was just another step."

"I just feel a little bit better every day and I just try and focus on that," he added.

According to ESPN's Shams Charania, Tatum wants to come back "not a shell of himself, not a lesser percentage of himself" and would need to feel like he's at 100 percent in order to return.

He initially suffered the ruptured right Achilles tendon in the Celtics' second-round playoff series against the New York Knicks in May 2025.

With Tatum facing a length recovery at the time, Boston parted ways with several key contributors from its 2024 championship-winning squad during the offseason.

Kristaps Porziņģis and Jrue Holiday were both traded, while frontcourt contributors including Al Horford and Luke Kornet left in free agency.

Despite heading into the 2025-26 season with relatively low expectations compared to past years, the Celtics currently hold the No. 2 spot in the Eastern Conference standings with a 35-19 record.

They've been led by Brown, who has averaged a career-high 29.3 points and 4.7 assists per game while shooting 48.3 percent from the field and 34.8 percent from three-point territory.

Still, the potential return of Tatum could provide a boost to Boston's rotation and help the team go on a deep playoff run.

After all, the six-time All-Star is coming off a 2024-25 campaign in which he averaged 26.8 points per game on 45.2/34.3/81.4 shooting splits.