Deontae Lawson Nearly Back to Full Strength After Rehab from ACL Injury

ATLANTA— Alabama linebacker Deontae Lawson tore his ACL last November 23 in a game at Oklahoma. On Wednesday at SEC Media Days, he rated himself a nine out of 10, expecting to be monitored by the coaching staff and not get every rep in fall practice but also expecting to play at a high level.

"It was definitely a journey. I'm happy that I'm on the back end of it now," Lawson said Wednesday. He noted that on days where he found rehabbing from the injury difficult, he had to redirect his focus to playing this season. He might have gone to the NFL if not for his knee but feels very blessed to be coming back to college for one more year.

"I have full faith in my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And he's just been showing me different ways of how He's been with me," Lawson said. "Obviously it's rough. Every day is not going to be pretty.  You're going to have your days where you don't feel like doing it, but this is what I've got to do."

The redshirt senior was also not short on praise for those who helped him along the way, including Dr. Lyle Cain, who performed his surgery. Lawson gave credit to Cain and multiple other individuals for helping see him through the recovery process.

"[Having] my family. Them being my support system. Them driving down to Tuscaloosa whenever they need to. Just small things like that, it just makes it a little bit easier," he said. "Another thing will be the medical team at Alabama. [Director of football rehabilitation] Jeremy Gsell, he's my guy, to be honest. I've been with him for the past eight months every day and we've been getting after it."

Lawson shared that on difficult days, Gsell put a smile on his face. The returning captain and defensive leader aims to make plays that'll produce smiles for himself and his teammates on both sides of the football.

"Man, I'm blessed. Obviously, everyone knows what I've been going through," he said. "I'm fired up just to be able to play again."