After suffering the second season-ending injury of his seven-year NFL career, San Diego Chargers running back Danny Woodhead knew he had a choice: stage a comeback and be the same player he was before, or bid farewell to the sport that's made him somewhat of a household name in all three cities he's played in.
Monday morning's voluntary team workout at Chargers Park was the first step in accomplishing the former.
Woodhead had already been working out on his own, doing all of the same exercises he would do as a healthy running back. That said, Monday's workout felt different.
"It's great to get back out with the guys," he said to the media Monday afternoon. "You feel a little bit more like a part of the team because when you're on IR you're just rehabbing and trying to recover."
Still, even with the memories of the broken leg and watching games from the sidelines still fresh on his mind, he isn't worried.
"I'm doing very good; I'm working out and doing everything so I think I'm OK," Woodhead said. "It's the least of my concern right now.
"My main concern is, I would say, the same as it's always been: It's working on (football), whether it be routes, whether it be the mental aspect of the game. I'm worried about football things; I'm not worried about the leg. I'm worried about what I can do to get better today."
As the offseason progresses, the Chargers near closer and closer to deciding whether or not they'll be residing in Los Angeles or San Diego. Again, Woodhead isn't worried.
"There's not a lot of talk of that. I think if you've been in this business long enough, you know that tomorrow is not guaranteed, " he said. "People lose their jobs very quickly and very often. You're more concerned about going out there every day and approaching your job the same way."
Surely, however, Woodhead would find himself losing just a little bit of sleep in the midst of rampant trade rumors surrounding Philip Rivers. He is, after all, a big part of the reason Woodhead's found so much success as a San Diego Charger. He has to be worried about that, right?
Nope.
"That's not what I'm concerned with, so it hasn't really affected us. He's on our team and he's our quarterback and we definitely like having him as our quarterback. As far as I know he's still on the team, right?" he said through a chuckle.
"(Rivers is) elite at what he does. He's one of the best in the league at his position and we're very fortunate to have him on the field on Sundays and fortunate to have him working out with us."
And he's definitely not worried about the idea that his employers might be looking to select another running back in next week's NFL Draft. Currently pegged to select a first-round player with the 17th-overall pick on April 30, the Chargers could very well opt in taking Georgia 's Todd Gurley or Wisconsin's Melvin Gordon to replace Ryan Mathews.
But that's not his concern, Woodhead said.
"If that's what our front office decides, that's what they decide. Does it scare me? No," he said with a laugh. "About every year I've been in the league, I've always had a running back drafted. That's the NFL, that's part of things.
"It's a team game, and whoever's going to help us, no matter who it is, I think the guys upstairs know who they want and what they need."
He just wants to play football--that's it.
Woodhead and the Chargers are scheduled to continue their strength and conditioning workouts for about two more weeks before Phase II, which consists of on-field workouts for three weeks.
