NFL Draft bust hoping for another shot after injury

Chase Claypool has failed to live up to expectations since he was drafted out of Notre Dame five years ago, but the wide receiver is hoping there is still time to change that.

Claypool returned from a lengthy social media absence on Friday to open up about the injury that cost him his 2024 season. After signing a one-year contract with the Buffalo Bills last offseason, Claypool suffered a toe injury and was released last August. He said few people knew the full extent, however.

"My first season-ending injury in 18 years came at the worst possible time. I felt like God was playing a joke on me," Claypool wrote. "It's been a year since I've posted on Instagram, and almost nobody knows what actually happened to me. ... I tore a ligament and a tendon in my second toe and have been rehabbing, working out, and recovering every day for the past year. I am back to being the strongest and fastest I have ever been and couldn't be more excited to step back out on the field and let my actions speak for themselves."

Claypool also said that signing with the Bills was "the best thing that could've ever happened to me." He felt he was "playing my best football" before the injury and said he had worked his way up to first string.