LSU junior defensive back Dwayne Thomas has had a long and bumpy path during his career with the Tigers. He completed his first full season in 2013 after suffering a sports hernia injury in 2012 and his career seemed to be moving in the right direction.
Then Sep. 27, 2014 rolled around, and it started to crumble once again.
The Tigers took on New Mexico State in Tiger Stadium just a week after Southeastern Conference rival Mississippi State upset them on the same turf. LSU routed the Aggies, 63-7, but behind the win was a substantial loss of one of its greatest defensive contributors.
Thomas blitzed the Aggies’ quarterback out of former defensive coordinator John Chavis’ beloved nickel mustang package, in which Thomas was featured as the main rusher off the edge. Thomas came off the edge in pursuit of the quarterback, but he collapsed as he cut around the corner.
The LSU training and medical staff helped Thomas off the turf, and it would be the last time he touched the field for the remainder of the 2014 season. Thomas tore his ACL, with the doctors setting his timetable to return at six to eight months.
The injury devastated Thomas, who was sidelined for the second time in three years, but he said he wouldn’t let it get the best of him.
“It was kind of hard at first don’t get me wrong, but over time I started dealing with that,” Thomas said. “Just getting in the lab, working hard. The harder I work the faster I’ll get back out there to grind with those guys.”
Now five months later, Thomas is back on the field ahead of schedule.
It was Thomas’ goal to make it back in time for spring practice, but there was a sense of uncertainty around his possible timetable of return. But the injury to his ACL was a clean tear, enabling Thomas to rehab quicker than expected.
Thomas experienced minimal pain and swelling, assuring the doctors he would be able to bounce back in no time. While Thomas said he’s feeling great, he said he understands he needs to take caution in his early return.
“If I feel like I can’t do something then I’ll just sit out a drill,” Thomas said. “It’s not going to hurt sitting out a drill because my mindset is to play in September. I just want to give it full go until it tells me to take a step back, take a day off and relax. I want to be out there. I’m a competitor and to watch those guys be out there busting their tails I want to be out there as well.
“I feel like I can go, so I’m going.”
Thomas has started spring practice in a green, no-contact jersey, but so far no practices have involved full contact.
Thomas said he will be in the purple jersey ready to go when the team starts full contact and full pad practices.
“When we go through full contact I’ll be out there going through full contact,” Thomas said. “That’s what I want to do. That’s what I’m here on defense for. I like contact that’s one thing I like to do.”
His injury-riddled past won’t take away his heart for the game, however. Thomas’ teammates have noticed his passion and fire in just the few practices they’ve had together.
Sophomore defensive back Jamal Adams said Thomas locked down sophomore wide receiver Trey Quinn on a fade route during practice Tuesday.
“[Thomas is] looking good. He’s getting better and better each and every day,” Adams said. “They ran a fade route on him and he was running like Dwayne, the old Dwayne. Fear [No. 13]. He’s getting back and ready and he’s going to be ready to go.”
Thomas echoes the confidence of his teammates. The junior said he blitzed for the first time since his injury, and while he was hesitant at first, he was pumped to get back in the groove.
“When I was out there [Tuesday] and I was called to blitz all I could remember was ‘last time I blitzed I went down.’ I was like ‘let’s go,’” Thomas said. “When I blitzed today there was no issue. [I] came clean, felt normal again, so I was just a bit hesitant, but I got it done.”
Thomas’ battle to get his career back on track has been difficult , but his love for the game has kept him on the battered path to recovery in hopes of an eventual return to success.
“You have to have heart,” Thomas said. “My heart tells me this is what I want to do, so if I want to do it and I want to keep doing it I always have to grind and fight hard to get back to what I want to do.”
You can reach Jack Chascin on Twitter @Chascin_TDR.