DeAngelo Hall ready to return after two tears, two surgeries on left Achilles tendon

RICHMOND — A few hours after DeAngelo Hall explained he would not shrink from a fight, he almost participated in one.

The Washington Redskins’ veteran cornerback was back on the practice field Thursday at training camp after two offseason surgeries to repair a torn left Achilles tendon.

He lined up on the left side as the starting cornerback, running with wide receiver Pierre Garcon on his first practice snap. A few plays later, Hall zoomed in on tight end Jordan Reed, brushing past him with his shoulder lowered a bit.

Reed was not pleased. That led to a facemask-to-facemask talk — Hall was giving away four inches — before teammates used a gentle separation to part the two. Wide receiver DeSean Jackson walked along with Hall, who continued to yell into the backfield at Reed.

It was just like old times on day one.

“I’m kind of champing at the bit, so, it’s going to be a fight back there in the secondary,” Hall said. “You know me, I’ve never shied away from a fight, and I’m ready to bring it.”

That was Hall during an extended conversation with reporters under the late-morning sun, before his chat with Reed. The battle he was referring to is taking place in a deeper cornerback room than last season. Hall and Chris Culliver, acquired in the offseason, bring proven commodities to each side of the field. Behind them remain the Redskins’ two young corners, Bashaud Breeland, entering his second season, and David Amerson, who veered from an hope-providing rookie season to a head-scratching one his second year. Among the group, Culliver may be in the most defined position.

Hall is a three-time Pro Bowler coming off the first surgery of his life. Since he was little, Hall ran around and played football. Last offseason, he spent months on a scooter after needing a second Achilles tendon surgery when he slipped in his kitchen a couple weeks after his first surgery.

“It got a little depressing at times being four months on a scooter,” Hall said.

That time also caused a transition. Hall said he took advice, listened to the doctors and was a willing and patient patient. The plan they put forth was followed. It was slow — “They probably could have pushed me a little sooner, but they took their time” — yet Hall went with it. That version of Hall, he said, was a sidestep of his normal demeanor.

“I’ve always kind of been a rule-breaker, so to say, kind of ride that line as close as I can,” Hall said. “I was completely in their hands. They praised me up all [Wednesday] about how great I looked and all this.”

Culliver joins Perry Fewell as new elements in the defensive backs room. Fewell joined the Redskins in the offseason as defensive backs coach after five seasons as the New York Giants’ defensive coordinator. He, like doctors and coach Jay Gruden, said the Redskins will move slowly with Hall, though the 31-year-old participated as much as any player in Thursday’s practice.

Hall contends he feels like nothing happened to him. He also said he is mentally over concern related to the injury. Fewell is looking for steps, not any particular foot plant or cut that shows Hall is playing free.

“Just, you know, let him get comfortable with playing football again because he hasn’t played in nine, 10 months,” Fewell said. “It’s not that I have to see a quick burst or this. I just want him get comfortable playing the game, and we’ll see him build, day by day, his skill set back. Then, we’ll find out — like when we go against competition with the Houston Texans, et cetera — because the man wants to compete. He’s a competitor.”

Hall said he felt good during OTAs and minicamp in June. Yet he, and the team, waited until camp to put him back on the field. Considering Breeland’s rookie season that showed an attacking style mixed with the errors of youth and the injury to Hall, Hall’s spot on the depth chart was in question before he headed onto the field with the starters Thursday. Gruden said Hall’s health and pedigree put him back in that spot.

“He had a bad injury, no question about it,” Gruden said. “He’s done everything right to get back, and I feel like with his experience, what he’s put on tape in his career, his veteran leadership, he deserves a right to be knocked off. And, he’s going to be our starting cornerback right now then until somebody knocks him off.”

Hall smiled when asked if he can win his starting job back. “Yeah,” he said. He appears ready for the scrap, receiving a form of reboot from the injury as his 32nd birthday approaches in November.

“I feel stronger because of it,” Hall said. “I appreciate being out here on this field a little more. Takes getting knocked down, takes some humbling experiences to really grow you, man. If everything’s always sunny, it’s kind of hard to appreciate some of the other stuff in life. It was cloudy, but feels good right now.”

His participation in drills over, Hall began to jog off the field. A team employee in charge of herding wayward footballs during practice threw one back toward the line. Hall spied it, took a quick jump and picked it off. The interception won’t be added to the 43 others in his career, but it sure beats wheeling around with a knee resting on a scooter, and Hall will take that.