Chiefs' Willie Gay Jr. fully healthy after missing Super Bowl with torn meniscus

Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Willie Gay Jr. started in eight of 16 regular-season games and notched 39 total tackles with one sack, one forced fumble and three pass breakups his rookie year until he suffered a high-ankle sprain in Week 17. 

Little did he realize at that time he wouldn't play again until August 2021 at the earliest. While working to return for the Super Bowl LV matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Gay went down to a torn meniscus and had surgery to repair the issue. 

Per Charles Goldman of USA Today/Chiefs Wire, the 23-year-old told reporters he still isn't exactly sure how or when he experienced the setback but credited athletic trainer Julie Frymyer with getting him ready for this summer's training camp sessions. 

"But all I do know is during this offseason period with this training staff, we’ve been working nonstop, me and Ms. Julie, and all her help that she has," he explained. "It’s been a real grind and that’s why I’m here today, 100 percent." 

He added that he simply wants to do the job assigned to him in any given instance. "Be able to be counted on and just do what I do to the best of my ability," he said. "Whether it’s tackling, whether it’s covering guys, blitzing, just continue to improve each and every day on the details of plays and execute every little detail that I do have with my assignments and all."

The second-round selection was initially on track to return for training camp, but his latest comments suggest he's even ahead of schedule in the final days of spring.