newjerseynewsroom.com

BY MATT SUGAM

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

PISCATAWAY – Tim Wright doesn’t think about what might have been. He did enough of that in his season of recovery and rehab after a catastrophic knee injury at the beginning of training camp. The injury required surgery and sidelined him for the 2010-11 campaign.

Once he was able to get back on the field, he put the injury behind him. The problem was, his right knee didn’t feel quite the same

While doctors say injuries like Wright's result in a knee that's as good as new a full year after surgery, that wasn’t the case for Wright. He hobbled throughout his 11 catch, 147 yard and two touchdown season last year.

“I had some ups and downs with it. Some things I couldn’t control,” Wright said after Rutgers' spring practice today. “But that’s sometimes what happens with injuries so you just got to fight through it and move on to the next.”

He has, and after another offseason of rehab Wright now feels 100 percent. While he may not live up to the hype he caused two springs ago, it won’t be because of his ability. It will be because the receiving core is just that stacked.

Wide receiver is the Rutgers' deepest, most talented offensive position group and possibly even the Big East. Because of that, Wright’s versatility is key. Along with lining up at the different receiver positions, Wright lined up at tight end in some packages last season.

“I feel like he brings a lot of mobility to the receiving corps because he does line up in the tight end spot, outside — it doesn’t matter,” wide receiver Mark Harrison said. “He has the ability to be anywhere on the field. He could probably even be in the backfield, you never know.”

Fortunately for Rutgers fans, the Wild Knight is long gone, so Wright won’t be lining up as a tailback. But the fact that he lines up in the tight end spot is something his quarterback likes.

“You can put him up at tight end and he can block, he can get off the ball to run a route,” Chas Dodd said. “It’s tough on defenses to know they have a guy like that they have to cover and they always have to think about so it’s great having someone like that.”

And one of the guys who was there a couple of years ago for Wright’s breakout spring is seeing first hand some of the things he witnessed then.

“I’m seeing a lot of those flashes,” Harrison said of the 6-4, 221 pounder. “He’s going out there and making plays and that’s what you want to do as a receiver.”

To the point where if he didn’t know any better, he would never think that Wright had a serious knee injury almost two years ago.

“You would never know he came off an injury or surgery like the way he did and the way he’s coming back,” Harrison said. “He worked hard in the offseason on his rehab and I’m excited to see what he’s going to bring this year.”

For More Rutgers football coverage follow Matt Sugam on Twitter @MattSugam and on Facebook.