Updating the NFL's Biggest Stars Set to Return from Injury in 2016

No one needs to be reminded of the impact that injuries have on all 32 teams in the NFL.

Each year, a number of standout players missed either all or large parts of the season. The focus here is on 10 such talented performers (in alphabetical order) who went down for the vast majority of 2015 but plan on getting up this fall.

Here is a look at each man’s current status, as well as what we can expect from him in 2016.

Other Players on the Mend

Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

Other Players on the Mend

Here are a few other stars who didn’t necessarily fit our original criteria. But they missed significant action and hope to return sooner than later this season.

WR Keenan Allen, San Diego Chargers

The 23-year-old wideout caught 67 passes for 725 yards and four touchdowns in eight games before going down with a kidney injury. Last month, according to Michael Gehlken of the San Diego Union-Tribune, it’s all systems go for Allen.

He and the team look to get a contract extension done as he enters his fourth season.

RB Jamaal Charles, Kansas City Chiefs

When Chiefs trainer Rick Burkholder was asked last month about Charles, he spoke about the four-time Pro Bowl running back as well as cornerback Phillip Gaines.

“We anticipate, with no setbacks, they’ll be fine by the time we’re ready to go in July,” said Burkholder to Terez A. Paylor of the Kansas City Star.

The 29-year-old performer was lost after five games in 2015, totaling 541 yards from scrimmage and five touchdowns before going down with an ACL injury. He’s the headliner in a crowded backfield that includes Charcandrick West, Spencer Ware and Knile Davis.

QB Joe Flacco, Baltimore Ravens

Until 2015, the Super Bowl XLVII champion had never missed a game in his career. But Flacco suffered a knee injury at home against the Rams in Week 11 and the streak ended at 122 consecutive regular-season contests.

Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk reports that Flacco was spotted at former teammate Torrey Smith’s charity basketball tournament earlier this month and the 31-year-old signal caller stated that Flacco said he’s “getting better and better each week.” He also expects to be ready for training camp.

QB Andrew Luck, Indianapolis Colts

Like Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco, Luck had not missed a game until this past season, although his streak of consecutive regular-season starts (55) paled in comparison to his counterpart in Baltimore.

This offseason, general manager Ryan Grigson signed Scott Tolzien to be the team’s main backup behind center. He replaces Matt Hasselbeck, who will now talk about football on ESPN.

As for Luck, his ears may have burning recently. Head coach Chuck Pagano had some thoughts when asked about his healing quarterback, who dealt with shoulder and rib issues in 2015.

“Get him healthy, keep him healthy, keep him protected, keep him upright,” said Pagano on NFL Network (via Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk). “He plays the position like a linebacker, with a linebacker’s mentality. He can’t do that all the time.

“We love how he can extend plays,” added Pagano. “but he’s got to be smart and know it’s okay to slide. You don’t have to take some of those hits.”

Of course, a little better production up front would help.

RB Le'Veon Bell, Pittsburgh Steelers

Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press

When available, Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell has proved to be one of the best players in the league at his position.

The team’s second-round draft choice in 2013 has amassed 4,166 yards from scrimmage and 22 touchdowns in 35 regular-season outings. This past season, he ran for 100-plus yards in three of his six games.

That sixth contest proved to be the last of 2015 for Bell, who injured his knee in a Week 8 home loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.

The 24-year-old pro is on the mend and began running March 1. When asked at the NFL annual meeting two weeks ago about when Bell would be ready to play, the Steelers head coach refused to speculate.

“No, I don't think that's appropriate,” said Mike Tomlin to Mark Kaboly of TribLive.com. “I think we need to do what’s right and we're going to do that. When he’s ready, he’s ready.”

Bell has averaged 119 yards from scrimmage in his brief career. None of those contests has included the playoffs, where Pittsburgh has ended the season the last two years. Perhaps Tomlin is more concerned about whether the three-year performer is himself in January opposed to early September.

WR Kelvin Benjamin, Carolina Panthers

Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports

Some seven months after the conclusion of his standout rookie season, Carolina Panthers wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin went down with a torn ACL. It ended any chance of an even better follow-up campaign for him in 2015.

But the 6’5”, 240-pound target appears to be on track to help the team defend its conference crown.

“Kelvin has worked his fanny off,” said Panthers general manager Dave Gettleman to Joseph Person of the Charlotte Observer last month at the NFL Scouting Combine. “He really has taken the bull by the horns. Like any other young kid it took him a couple weeks to get over the woe-is-me stuff and understand it’s time to go. He’ll be doing some things this spring and he’ll be ready to go for training camp.”

Gettleman stated that the 25-year-old wideout will have limited participation in OTAs and minicamp but “should be full-go for the start of training camp.”

In his debut season, Benjamin finished second on the club with 73 catches, tied for the team lead with 1,008 receiving yards and led the Panthers with nine touchdown receptions. Soon it will be all systems go for the talented performer, who will pair with 21-year-old Devin Funchess to give Cam Newton a pair of youths to be served.

LT Ryan Clady, Denver Broncos

John Grieshop/Getty Images

The Denver Broncos have made an appearance in two of the past three Super Bowls.

Their four-time Pro Bowl left tackle missed both of those contests.

In 2013, Ryan Clady was lost after two games with a Lisfranc injury. He was also not around for the club’s 2015 championship season after tearing his ACL in late May.

His current status isn’t in question. Clady was back to work last November. “I’m not going to say I could have returned because I obviously wasn't in football shape and I wasn’t out there practicing or anything like that,” he told Nicki Jhabvala of the Denver Post in early March. “In previous years I had played feeling a lot worse than I did during that timeframe. It was possible, for sure.”

Despite being healthy again, will the 29-year-old left tackle play for the Broncos in 2016? That could depend on whether the team finally pulls the trigger on a much-discussed trade for San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick.

Jeff Legwold of ESPN.com has the particulars on Clady’s prospects of a future in the Mile High City. Keep in mind that the club signed former Seattle Seahawks left tackle Russell Okung to a five-year contract in March.

WR Victor Cruz, New York Giants

Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

“I couldn’t go anywhere else. I’m such a Jersey dude, born and raised here.”

Those were the words of Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz to SNY reporter Alexa Datt on March 9, the first day of free agency.

That interview took place shortly after the 29-year-old Super Bowl champion agreed to a new contract that would keep him with the franchise.

“I knew it was coming,” said Cruz to Datt (via James Kratch of NJ.com). “It wasn’t like I was in the dark, and it was a surprise. I knew I hadn’t played in two years. Making X amount of money, I knew there was going to be something done there. I’m realistic about the situation I was placed in.”

As for playing time, Cruz has missed 26 straight games for Big Blue dating back to 2014. On the field, he’s totaled 264 catches, averaged 15 yards per reception and scored 24 touchdowns in 55 regular-season appearances.

The 2012 Pro Bowler, teamed with Odell Beckham Jr., gives quarterback Eli Manning a pair of potent targets who haven’t spent a lot of time on the field together to date. That will change in 2016.

RB Arian Foster (Unsigned)

Andrew Innerarity-USA TODAY Sports

Just over a week ago, running back Arian Foster visited the Miami Dolphins. The team has been looking to upgrade its backfield since Lamar Miller took the money and ran to Houston.

Adam H. Beasley of the Miami Herald states that the meeting was more of a “get-to-know-you” than a “let’s get a deal done” type of encounter.

That makes perfect sense, considering the four-time Pro Bowler is still on the mend after suffering an Achilles injury last October in what proved to be a 44-26 loss to the Dolphins in South Florida. Don’t be surprised if Foster, the Texans’ franchise leader in rushing yards, joins a team that has been desperate to find running back help this offseason.

Two years ago, he bounced back from missing the final eight games of 2013 to total 1,573 yards from scrimmage and 13 scores. The 29-year-old will make amends this season. It’s just a matter of who he winds up signing with.

OLB DeAndre Levy, Detroit Lions

Leon Halip/Getty Images

There was a time when some considered Detroit’s DeAndre Levy the most underrated outside linebacker in the NFL.

That’s changed a bit in recent seasons. It’s hard to ignore a player who amasses 117 tackles, knocks down 15 passes and records six interceptions. That was 2013, the year before he racked up 155 stops and 2.5 sacks for the playoff-bound Lions.

But 2015 was a lost year for the 29-year-old. He made just one appearance all season and now looks to be back helping the team. But the timing of his return is unclear.

“Not quite sure about that,” new Lions general manager Bob Quinn two weeks ago, according to Kyle Meinke of MLive.com. “I think when we get him back in the building, get to look at him a little closer, we’ll have a better feel on that.”

As far as how effective Levy will be this season, there doesn’t appear to be any concern on at least one person’s part.

“I’m fully expecting him to be able to do the things that he’s always done for us,” said Lions head coach Jim Caldwell, per Meinke. “Make plenty of tackles, cover guys, in terms of pass rush, out of the backfield and detached, and certainly give us some help in terms of rushing the passer. We blitz him once in a while.

“I expect him to be the same active guy he’s always been.”

That will add up to good things for the Lions, winners of six of their final eight games in 2015 following a forgettable 1-7 start.

WR Jordy Nelson, Green Bay Packers

Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

In his league MVP seasons of 2011 and 2014, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers combined to throw 83 touchdown passes while being picked off only 11 times.

A little less than three-quarters of those scores (25) went to wide receiver Jordy Nelson, who is on course to return to the field this year after tearing his ACL at Heinz Field last preseason.

“Things are great. Everything has gone smooth,” said Nelson last month at the NFL Players Association meetings, according to Jim Trotter of ESPN.com. “Everyone keeps asking if I’m 100 percent. I’m 100 percent of what the doctor will let me do. The rest is unknown, but we’re right where we want to be and will continue to progress once we get back to Green Bay in a week-and-a-half.”

That “progress” would be welcome news to Rodgers. One season after averaging an NFL-best 30.4 points per contest, the Packers dropped to 23 points per outing minus their star wideout.

It’s been so far, so good for Nelson (who turns 31 years old on May 31). His eventual return ensures that Green Bay owns the deepest wide receiving corps in the league.

C Maurkice Pouncey, Pittsburgh Steelers

Keith Srakocic/Associated Press

The team’s first-round draft choice in 2010, center Maurkice Pouncey has been a star performer for the Pittsburgh Steelers when he’s played. Four seasons of at least 14 games have added up to four Pro Bowl invitations.

In 2013, he was lost for the rest of the year after being injured in a Week 1 home loss to the Tennessee Titans. Last August, he suffered a broken fibula, and ensuing complications forced the 26-year-old pivot to miss all of 2015.

What’s the future hold for a player who has basically missed two of the past three seasons? It’s hard to tell because Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin appears to be exercising a lot of caution when it comes to the talented center.

“What he’s capable of doing and what I allow him to do may be two different things,” said Tomlin, per Mark Kaboly of TribLive.com. “I haven’t had those discussions or thoughts at this juncture.”

Could the team have other plans for Pouncey? Pro Football Focus reminds us that Cody Wallace was more feisty than effective. He finished No. 64 out of 65 players ranked at his position in 2015.

It’s hard to imagine the Steelers parting ways with a good football player, and there’s no indication that Pouncey is going anywhere. His return makes an emerging offensive line that much better.

QB Tony Romo, Dallas Cowboys

Joe Robbins/Getty Images

Amidst speculation that the Dallas Cowboys will use the fourth overall pick in April’s draft on a quarterback has been the lack of discussion regarding the health of their current signal-caller.

How is Tony Romo doing these days? Twice this past season he went down with a collarbone injury. The soon-to-be 36-year-old performer was limited to four games in 2015, throwing five touchdown passes compared to seven interceptions.

However, his presence helped the Cowboys win three of those contests. That despite the fact that the four-time Pro Bowler was picked off at least twice in three of his four outings.

Roughly a month ago, Todd Archer of ESPN.com reported that the quarterback had surgery on that collarbone. And according to an optimistic Romo, all went well and he’s ready to go.

How effective he will be may depend in the pieces around him. Wide receiver Dez Bryant had his own problems staying healthy in 2015, and the running game (no longer with DeMarco Murray) just wasn’t the same.

Romo has played an entire 16-game season just once since 2012. Look for him to vie for NFL Comeback Player of the Year honors this fall.

DE Cameron Wake, Miami Dolphins

Winslow Townson/Associated Press

Just when defensive end Cameron Wake was playing his best football in 2015, he went down and was out for the rest of the season.

After totaling an impressive seven sacks in a three-game stretch in October, the Miami Dolphins’ four-time Pro Bowler suffered an Achilles injury on a Thursday night in Foxborough that ended his year.

May it have also ended his tenure with the franchise? With the additions of free-agent defensive ends Mario Williams and Alan Branch this offseason, Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald says the team will be conservative when it comes to his playing time this season.

Then again, according to Spotrac.com, Wake’s 2016 cap hit is a hefty $9.8 million. According to Salguero, the player and team have failed to come to a resolution to date. But the Dolphins are willing to try again to restructure his contract.

It won’t be a surprise when Wake and the club fail to come to an agreement. Look for the 34-year-old pass-rusher to knock down opposing quarterbacks for another team this season.

Unless otherwise noted, all player and team statistics come from Pro-Football-Reference.com and ESPN.com. All player ratings courtesy of Pro Football Focus. All 2016 contract terms are courtesy of Spotrac.