After controversial arrival and career-threatening injury, Reuben Foster is back on field for Washington

“I haven’t been in the game for two years. Of course it’s going to be weird,” he said Friday after his second full day of practice with the team. “But I’m always up for a challenge. … I’ve grown a lot. Just being humble, vulnerable, understanding for a lot of things, of life. Real understanding of life. It’s stuff that I can’t really explain … Not saying I can’t explain it, but it’s hard to explain. I just know that my drive to get back on that field was insane.”

Foster, 26, was activated from the physically unable to perform list Sunday and participated in four days of strength and conditioning during the team’s initial phase of training camp. It wasn’t until Thursday, however, that he finally strapped on a helmet again.

“It’s kind of nerve-racking, but I’m just happy to be out on the field with the guys — you know, blood, sweat and tears, and really playing football again,” he said.

A 2017 first-round draft pick by the 49ers, Foster saw his first three years in the NFL riddled with injuries and legal troubles. Ankle and hamstring injuries cut his rookie season to 10 games, and off-field issues limited him to six in 2018. He was suspended for the start of that season after violating the NFL’s substance abuse and personal conduct policies, related to earlier charges of gun and marijuana possession. Then, in November, he was arrested in Florida on domestic violence charges and subsequently waived by San Francisco.

“I learned a lot, just to answer that,” Foster said when pressed about his past legal troubles. “But right now I’m not even worrying about all that. It’s in the rearview; I’m going to keep it in the rearview. I’m looking to the future and trying to look to the bigger things and getting back on the field.”

During his first day of organized team activities last year, Foster tore multiple ligaments in his left knee and suffered nerve damage that caused him to temporarily lose feeling in his toes. On Friday, he said he often wondered whether he would ever regain feeling in his foot — and if his football career was over at 25.

“It still goes through my mind,” he said. “. . . I was focusing on my leg and focusing on my first day of practice, really, and I was happy — I was happy about it, but I was focusing on my leg, like: ‘Dang, am I the same again? Will I ever be the same?’ Or, ‘Would I ever be that type of caliber guy?’ But I don’t think [about it] to the point that it would stop my play style or whatever. I just got to get confidence out there.”

Foster credited his teammates and the organization for keeping him focused and sane during his arduous recovery, and he expressed gratitude for being able to return to the field.

“Everything I’ve been through and trying to get back on the field, I just want to play football again, something I grew up loving,” he said. “ … My focus is just so powerful right now that I’m not trying to fall back. I’m trying to step forward. It’s scary when you look back and you see everything going down. It’s scary. Real scary.”

Though Foster declined to get into specifics about his past run-ins with the law, he was candid about his feeling of vulnerability during his recovery.

“I’ve been out for two years and, you know, it’s kind of hard,” he said. “. . . I only know the pain. Certain people know what I’m going through, too, with the injury and all that, but I just know that I got to keep fighting forward, keep pushing.”

Foster said he leaned heavily on Malcolm Blacken, the team’s senior director of player development. He also praised Coach Ron Rivera.

“Man, I trust him. A lot,” Foster said. “ … I just think he’s a real stand-up guy, a trustworthy guy. A real hard-nosed — he don’t play favoritism. He doesn’t show that, but I like that about him. I’m a guy who’s here to work and loves to work and loves to play football, and he’s a guy that loves to play football. And he was a linebacker back in the day, so that gives us a connection there, too.”

Rivera was hired in January to improve the team’s football product and fix a culture that some have labeled as toxic. His decision last week to release running back Derrius Guice immediately after he was arrested on domestic violence charges was lauded by some but also criticized by others — including many who raised questions about Foster.

“Well, I think the biggest thing is Reuben was claimed here and after he went through the process, certain things came out and he had his moment to be able to settle himself in and show that he was exonerated for the most part,” Rivera said earlier this week. “Again, it’s always a difficult decision when you come to these things. Reuben and I have talked about some things, some specific stuff — I’m not going to get into details — but the one thing Reuben has shown since I’ve been here is that he is doing things the right way. He is doing things the way we need him to do, and he has been excellent.”

Rivera also praised Foster for a skill set that could make him a staple of Washington’s defense — health and legal record permitting.

“You look at the Dallas situation: They went through the same thing with their young linebacker having almost the same type of injury,” Rivera said, referring to Jaylon Smith of the Cowboys. “That’s what we’re hoping for for Reuben: an opportunity to get back on the field and prove that he’s back and that he’s the kind of guy we hope he can be for us.”

Read more: