Coming off of his second ACL tear, Lions WR Ryan Broyles was a full participant in all three days of minicamp this week, six months and one week after undergoing surgery on his right knee.
He took part in just position drills at the start of organized team activities last month, and by the time minicamp opened this week he had convinced coaches he was ready for full team work.
Through it all, Broyles said he hasn’t dealt with as much knee pain or tenderness as he did last year, when he developed a bone bruise on his knee that stayed with him for months and had him wondering mid-season if his explosiveness would return.
Broyles said he doesn’t expect to start on the physically-unable-to-perform list when training camp opens next month, and if he can avoid that and continue on his current progression he could provide a huge lift for a Lions offense that barely addressed the receiver position this off-season.
There was a six-game stretch from Week 7 to Week 12 where Broyles averaged 3.5-51-.33 which would have equated to WR35 numbers in 2012. If his knee is good to go, there is certainly upside for Broyles as a real-world WR3 hoping to push Nate Burleson for snaps and targets.
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