Jags' coordinator likens injured WR Lee to 'albino tiger at the zoo'
Marqise Lee's participation in Jacksonville's offseason program and training camp thus far has been a rarity. And judging from the way his new offensive coordinator described it, Lee's recent lack of availability due to a hamstring injury isn't going over well.
"To me he's like the albino tiger at the zoo," Jacksonville offensive coordinator Greg Olson said, per ESPN. "If you get there and you're lucky enough to get him to come out of the cave and see him, it's a good day. I've only seen him three times since I've been here and those three days he was very impressive, but he's only been out there three days.
"We're hoping that we can get him healthy and see a little bit more of him."
The former second-round pick has been unable to practice since the beginning of camp with a hamstring strain. Injuries have continued to be an issue for Lee throughout his young career. He missed all of OTAs and minicamp this year with a knee injury he suffered during offseason workouts. Last year, he dealt with an ankle injury during OTAs and was hampered by a bad hamstring the first half of the season.
The 23-year-old, who was taken with the 39th overall pick in 2014, was injured on the fifth day of training camp early in August. He participated in three practices before he was given a precautionary day off by head coach Gus Bradley and then was hurt during the next workout.
Lee isn't expected to play in Jacksonville's preseason finale Thursday and against the Washington Redskins, and Olson said he's planning as though the receiver won't be ready for the Sept. 13 season-opener against the Carolina Panthers.
"That's the plan a little bit," Olson said. "That's part of it. Injuries are part of the NFL, and you've got be able to adapt to the personnel that you have. We're certainly hoping to get him back and hoping to get him healthy because we do believe he could be a big part of what we want to do going forward."
Bradley said the team hopes to have a better sense when Lee might be ready to return later in the week.
"I don't know where that's at," Bradley said. "I think this week is going to be big for him. I think we'll know more by the end of this week or early next week where he's at. I feel pretty confident everything that's brought to me, but he has this return-to-play [protocol] so that might take five or six days. He's involved in it now, so he just needs to keep stacking up good days."
(h/t ESPN)
