Patrick Chung Happy To Be Back At Work, Despite Red No-Contact Jersey
BOSTON (CBS) -- The last time we saw Patrick Chung on a football field, the Patriots safety was in extreme pain after breaking his forearm in Super Bowl LIII. Now, he's back on the field for New England as training camp is underway in Foxboro, though he's still on the mend from a pair of offseason surgeries.
Chung was fit for an aircast on the field following his violent collision with teammate Jonathan Jones early in the second half of New England's 13-3 victory over the L.A. Rams, but refused to be carted off the field. It's the kind of toughness Patriots fans have grown used to seeing out of the 31-year-old Chung.
He had to undergo surgery for his broken forearm, and needed another offseason surgery a few weeks later after playing much of the season with a bad shoulder. Chung has been out on the field for the first two days of training camp in Foxboro, but has been sporting a red no-contact jersey as he continues his recovery.
Players can't do much hitting over the first few days of camp anyways, so Chung doesn't seem to mind his new threads.
"It's very ideal; at least I'm out here," he told reporters after Friday's practice. "It's just good to be back and working with the guys, shaking some rust off. It's go time now."
Chung was expected to be on the mend when camp opened up, but there is no timetable for when he'll be back to 100 percent.
He did chat about his Super Bowl injury, and said not even the glory of victory could take the pain away from his forearm. But a broken forearm wasn't going to keep him from spending a few moments with the Lombardi trophy back that night.
"I'd be lying to say I didn't feel it. I felt it, but when we won, it was a good time. The pain went away just a little bit," he said with a giant grin.
Chung is now heading into his 10th season in the Patriots organization, and is part of a secondary unit that could be the team's best and strongest group on the roster. In his 15 games during the 2018 regular season, Chung racked up 84 tackles to go with an interception and a fumble recovery, adding 13 more tackles in the playoffs.
