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Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are both regularly at the Auerbach Center rehabbing after both undergoing surgery this Spring, Brad Stevens said in a draft night press conference late Wednesday.
Tatum, who ruptured his Achilles tendon on May 12th, is expected to miss most, if not all, of next season.
Brown, meanwhile, underwent a minor knee surgery on June 11th and is expected to be available for training camp.
Here’s what Brad Stevens had to say about both stars’ injury status, in full.
Jayson Tatum has “progressed great”, but there’s no timeline for return
Six weeks after Jayson Tatum underwent surgery to repair a ruptured Achilles, there’s no return-to-play timeline.
It sounds like that will be the case for a long while, too.
“We don’t and we won’t [have a timeline],” Stevens said. “We won’t put a projected timeline on him for a long, long time, and as we look at it, there’s no reason to. It’s baby steps right now.”
No timeline doesn’t mean things haven’t been going well for the six-time All-Star, who has been rehabbing at the Auerbach Center on a daily basis.
“He’s actually progressed great,” Stevens said. “But I don’t know what that means with regard to projected timelines, and that’ll be in consultation with him and [Celtics trainers] Nick [Sang] and Phil Coles and everybody else to make sure that when he hits the court, he is fully ready and fully healthy. That will be the priority.”
Jaylen Brown is already doing light on-court work
Brown is in a much different position than Tatum, having undergone a far less serious operation for a partially torn meniscus. But, like Tatum, Brown has regularly been at the Auerbach Center rehabbing with his Celtics trainer, Drew Moore.
Brown was walking with the assistance of a crutch at a community event last Thursday, and Stevens said late Wednesday night that he’s returned to the court.
“He’s doing great,” Stevens said. “His rehab looks good. He was actually on the court the other day doing some ball handling and doing some light work around the rim. Nothing big movement-wise yet.”
Stevens said he expects Brown to be ready “well ahead” of training camp.
Tatum and Brown both spending so much time at the Auerbach Center in the offseason is not the norm, Stevens said.
“It’s usually the time of the year when I don’t see those guys a lot,” he said. “They usually go and kind of rest, and get away, but they’ve both prioritized getting better and rehabbing, and after a long season, I appreciate that about them.”
