8 Months After Injury, Lewis Cine 'Looking More Explosive' Than He Did Last Year
It's been less than eight months since Vikings safety Lewis Cine suffered a compound fracture of his left leg while playing on special teams in last season's London game. And yet, if you watched him fly around the field at OTAs this week, you'd have no idea he was coming off a major injury.
Vikings special teams coordinator Matt Daniels knows what Cine has been through because he suffered a serious leg injury of his own during his playing career. That's what makes it so shocking to him to see how quickly and how well Cine has recovered. Daniels even went so far as to suggest that Cine looks more explosive than he did at this time a year ago.
"It's mind-blowing, quite frankly, because I suffered a similar injury, broken (tibula and fibula) and dislocated ankle, and he comes back off a compound fracture like that and he's looking more explosive than he did last year," Daniels said. "A lot of times when you do have these types of injuries, it's more of a mental block than it is a physical block. I think he has surpassed that mental block because of how he trained and rehabbed his way back to it. He has that supreme confidence back in him that he's out there flying around."
Cine, the Vikings' first-round pick out of Georgia in 2022, says he doesn't feel like he's been limited at all this offseason. He's just out there practicing and working like the rest of his teammates.
"I feel like I've been going," Cine said. "It's not like things are being toned down for me any how or bit, I've just been going like everyone else and I feel great."
This is a big season for Cine, who is determined to stay healthy and prove that he can be a major producer as a starting safety in this league. He has the physical tools, running a 4.37 40 with an 11-foot broad jump at 6'2", 200 pounds last year. His college tape was littered with impressive examples of his ability to diagnose plays and be in the right place at the right time.
Now it's about mastering Brian Flores' defense and everything he'll be asked to do in this new system.
"Physically, he looks good," Flores said. "He's learning, he was here the entire offseason, and he's been working and working and working and working. We're excited to just continue to work and grow and learn. He's done a good job."
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