FLORHAM PARK, N.J. -- Lorenzo Mauldin is nearing his return to the New York Jets, just a week and a half after his frightening injury in the opening game of the season.
The rookie linebacker did not practice Wednesday, but was on the field with his teammates and spoke to the media for the first time since being knocked out against the Cleveland Browns in Week 1 -- a concussion that looked far worse initially. Mauldin was strapped to a spinal board and taken off the field on a golf cart.
"I just know I was going in for [Johnny] Manziel, and pretty much just, I think I took a blow to the jaw or something," Mauldin said. "I had a migraine before that play, but it was going away, but I’m thinking that it just triggered something."
Mauldin confirmed that he was unconscious on the field and said he didn't fully wake up until the next morning in the hospital.
"I was told what happened -- I took two steps and fell back down after I tried to get up," Mauldin said. "But I don’t remember any of that, either."
Mauldin hasn't watched a replay of the incident. "No, I didn’t want to," he said. "I just wanted to keep moving on. It really didn’t matter to me how it happened; I just wanted to get better."
As for the migraine, Mauldin said he has suffered from migraine headaches for a while, but he takes medication to help deal with them.
It remains to be seen if Mauldin will be available for the Jets' game against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, but he said he is feeling no ill effects from the concussion at this point. It sounds like he'll be back soon, and gratefully so.
"I’m blessed that it wsn’t a neck injury or a spinal injury, something that could have ended my career so early," Mauldin said. "That’s all I can do, is pray and thank God."