Elandon Roberts – January 6, 2022
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Thursday, January 6, 2022
LB Elandon Roberts
(What does it mean to you that [the Dolphins athletic training staff] voted for you for this award and the respect they showed for how far you’ve come to come back?) – “It means a lot and I just want to really show my appreciation for the training staff here at the Miami Dolphins. They were with me day in and day out. I can’t really describe how I feel for that group of people in there. I won’t name any names because I kind of know that they don’t want any recognition. They just come in here every day and just try to do their jobs the best they can and I just appreciate them. To be honest, receiving this award to me is just basically showing a tribute to them because even though I was fighting day in and day out to get back, they were right there with me along the way. I had my up and down days and they didn’t allow me to get down on myself and stuff like that. They just kept pushing me and pushing me and pushing me. Me getting back on the field was a true testimony to them as well and the care they have for me and the organization.”
(Was there ever a question in your mind about the severity of the injury and your ability to come back?) – “You know it was my first time ever having a serious injury, a serious surgery. I never really spoke about it. I just kind of started grinding. It wasn’t time to really dwell on it. It was time to work, get back and be able to get back ready for the season. It wasn’t that I had doubts because I’m a fighter at the end of the day. I’ve been going through adversity my whole life. It was just, from a standpoint of not knowing, I had never been through an injury so just not knowing from a rehab standpoint what I needed to do. Every day, day-to-day, was a learning experience for me. Like I said, that’s why I was grateful to have such a good group around me getting me back right.”
(What was the toughest moment or the toughest part of the road back?) – “I always tell people my toughest moment, honestly, was the week before. The week before I had surgery, because you’re just in there rehabbing but you know for a fact you are not getting better. I’m just in there rehabbing and rehabbing and every day I’m going home like, ‘I’m not getting better.’ From a standpoint of, I knew why I was rehabbing but I still just, me and how I operate I’m just like, ‘I’m not getting better,’ because obviously it isn’t fixed. Once I was – literally, I think I had surgery January 3rd, I want to say, and by the fourth I was ready to go. Every day it was a go. I really didn’t have any time that I was worried about this, worried about that, worried about stuff I couldn’t control. All I could control was getting myself in the best situation to be back on the field to be that same guy I was when I left it.”
(You initially thought it could be rehabbed instead of surgically repaired?) – “No. What I’m saying is you do rehab before you have surgery. I’m just doing rehab but I didn’t have surgery (yet). I had to ice it and stuff. It’s still rehab even though you’re just icing it. I knew that my knee wasn’t better. It wasn’t better until I had surgery so once I had the surgery, I was ready to go. But no, I knew I needed surgery.”
(The road back for you, how do you feel like you performed this season? I believe it’s one of your higher tackle production years, especially considering you came back nine months from an ACL tear.) – “I feel like you just answered the question. It’s a true testament first to God and it’s a true testament to the people around me that helped me get to this point. That’s why I appreciate them so much because of the simple fact that you have a lot to come from this injury and really not –I feel like even though we have one more (game) to go, I did a good job for my teammates and my coaching staff.”
(You kind of addressed this earlier in the season but for the Dolphins to re-sign you even though they knew you faced an uphill journey back, how much respect did that show? You were an unrestricted free agent repairing an ACL.) – “It showed me a lot. It showed me that the organization had my back. It showed me that if this organization can have my back like that starting with ‘Flo’ (Brian Flores) and the coaching staff, then I’m going to make sure that I am going to do everything possible that it takes to get back. It wasn’t an easy road. I do have two kids. I have a wife. And I know sometimes it was tough for them because I did have to dedicate a lot of time to rehab to get back. My wife, her being an athlete, she understood the journey. She was right there with me and I just appreciate her for everything too. Like I said back on the organization, I appreciate them for giving me another opportunity knowing the severity of my injury. I truly feel like they didn’t regret it.”
(I know you guys taken a lot of pride in your run defense most of the season and obviously had to be disappointed with the effort last time out. How appreciative are you of one opportunity to end on a different note and what are you guys doing this week in practice to correct that?) – “Every week you come out and of course, we pride ourselves on being the best run defense in the NFL, period. Like I said after Sunday, you’ve got to tip your hat to Tennessee. But we turned the page. We turned the page, we made the corrections and one thing about it is we’ve got another opportunity to go back out there this Sunday and show everybody that we are ready to go.”
