RICHMOND, Va. -- Washington Redskins tight end Jordan Reed dealt with pain from the time training camp opened last season. That pain ended his season after six games. Now that the pain is gone, he said he feels like himself again.
Reed will ease back into practice, but he was able to participate in individual work and remains confident in what he can now do after having multiple toe surgeries. Reed said he had the sesamoid bone in each big toe removed.
"I didn't feel [like] myself the whole year," Reed said. "That's why I had to get the surgery and have the bone removed. I'm feeling 100 times better.
"I can tell a difference because with the toes it was pain. I had pain all season, all offseason, and that pain was shutting down certain parts of the body that I needed. So you remove the pain and now I'm building my body back up and feeling great again."
Reed's health is paramount to the Redskins' offense. He has missed a combined 16 games over the last three seasons and has played in more than 12 games only once in his first five seasons. That 2015 season also happened to be his best, as Reed caught 87 passes with 11 touchdowns in 14 games while the Redskins won the NFC East.
Reed opened the 2017 training camp on the physically unable to perform list because of inflammation in the big toe of his right foot. He first hurt it in the spring, then opted for a stem-cell shot that didn't help.
"That really aggravated the toe a lot worse," Reed said. "The whole month of July I couldn't run. That set me back going into the season. It was a poor decision getting that shot. ... It was the wrong choice obviously."
Redskins tight end Jordan Reed says he's finally pain-free after having a procedure in December and February to remove the sesamoid bone in each big toe. AP Photo/Mark Tenally
The toe never quite healed and it led to other problems with his leg and hip. He used orthotics in his shoe to help cushion his toe, but it didn't help.
Now Reed is running pain-free. He had one surgery in December and the other in February.