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Reynolds returns for his last chance

Oklahoma's Ryan Reynolds tore an ACL against Texas last season after being sidelined by knee injuries in both 2006 and 2007. He had two double-digit tackle games last season before getting hurt. MIKE SIMONS / Tulsa World Courtesy

 
By GUERIN EMIG World Sports Writer
Published: 8/10/2009  2:23 AM
Last Modified: 8/10/2009  3:43 AM

 NORMAN — Ryan Reynolds came walking onto Owen Field through a throng of autograph seekers last Friday morning, when a well-wisher greeted him with "Good to see you again."

"Yeah," the Oklahoma middle linebacker replied, "I'm in a jersey and everything."

That crimson warm-up Reynolds wore to half of the Sooners' games last season after undergoing his third knee surgery in three years?

It's a thing of the past. It's gone — just like the No. 8 jersey he wore through the torn anterior cruciate ligament of 2006 (left knee), the torn lateral collateral ligament of '07 (right knee) and the torn ACL in the third quarter of the Texas game last October (right knee again). He's No. 4 now.

"My high school number," Reynolds said with a grin. "Figured it might bring me a little better luck than No. 8 did."

So far, so good.

The fifth-year senior took a shot at reclaiming his starting spot between Travis Lewis and Keenan Clayton at the beginning of OU's first practice last Thursday, before sharing snaps with Mike Balogun the rest of the way.

"Ryan looked good out there and said he felt good," said Clayton, the Sooners' senior on the strong side.

"Full range of motion, everything," Reynolds said. "Just a little rusty out there. It will take a couple days to get my legs back underneath me completely."

The Sooners are glad to have him back in just about any playing shape.

Reynolds spent the first 5 1/2 games of last season making 46 tackles, breaking up two passes and forcing a fumble, all the while playing traffic cop for first-year starters Clayton and Lewis.

"Every time Coach V (defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Brent Venables) called something and we didn't know what to do, we looked like deer in the headlights," Clayton said. "We'd look at Ryan and he was so calm and collected. Like, 'All you gotta do is...'"

That luxury was lost Oct. 11 when someone fell over the back of Reynolds' leg in the matchup with Texas at the Cotton Bowl, prompting his third major knee injury.

"Heart-wrenching," OU coach Bob Stoops described it at the time. "All of the hard work and he's playing so well... To have that happen, there's no way to describe it really."

Reynolds took that night to talk things over with his parents.

"I always said if it happened again, I'd probably be done," he said. "But I figured, what else am I gonna do? Just try to come back and play. It was real easy the next morning. I set up the surgery and went after it."

"He's a stud. He was ready to go yesterday," Venables said. Venables immediately made Reynolds a player/coach, three days after the injury. "He's got a great presence to him and so much respect from everybody on the team. I can't have eyes in the back of my head, so he can be those for me."

With Reynolds' continued help, Lewis switched from weakside linebacker to the middle and grew into OU's defensive signal-caller. The defense rallied, and eventually played two of its best games in the Big 12 and national championships.

How good can the group be if Reynolds' health holds one more season?

"To have him with me makes me 10 times the player I am," said Lewis, who finished '08 with an OU freshman-record 133 tackles. "He makes our whole defense better."

Still, it is an enormous "if."

Reynolds has prepared himself the best he can. He handled his rehabilitation smarter and easier than his previous two, keeping his weight down and his condition up.

"He's (10 pounds) lighter than he was a year ago," Venables said. "It helps not having that extra weight to burden that knee."

Venables will do his part to help as well.

"I gave Ryan every rep conceivable in fall camp," he said about last year. "He was our only experienced player, and he had missed a lot of the year before. I was trying to get him game ready. That might have made him more vulnerable.

"The luxury this fall is with Mike (Balogun) having experience, Austin (Box) having experience, Tom Wort having a spring here and showing exceptional ability as a freshman to transition and make plays and call things, that gives us a great deal of depth at that position, and a lot more flexibilty in terms of what we can do with Ryan and rest. Not that he needs it, but I think in the long run, if our goal is to play 14 games, it will help him and help us in the end."

As it stands, Reynolds hasn't even cemented his old starting spot yet.

"Right now, I think it's an even playing field," said Balogun, who came on late last season and started the national title game. "It's open for either one of us. It's who progresses the most during camp."

Said Reynolds: "There's still going to be competition."

But at least he's competing again. And, given everything he's been through, that's quite a place to start the 2009 season.

"It's good to be back out there," Reynolds said.

Guerin Emig 581-8355
guerin.emig@tulsaworld.com
By GUERIN EMIG World Sports Writer

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6 comments have been made for this team so far. Tell us what you think below!
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Graybeard, Tulsa (8/10/2009 7:00:55 AM)
Glad he recovered from injury and is competing for the position. Kudos to the trainers and medical staff......these kids that return from knee surgeries have done so well! It shows that OU has a superb support system for our athletes.

GO BIG RED!
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Arbythree, Tulsa (8/10/2009 11:53:46 AM)
BOOMER SOONER!!
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BedlamSports dot Net, (8/10/2009 12:02:11 PM)
Good luck to Ryan this year. His injury in the Texas game last year was perhaps THE reason Texas pulled away in the 4th quarter. Texas could not run the ball until RR was out bedlamsports net
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Sooner Alum 04, (8/10/2009 1:37:20 PM)
All i can say is when a guy has nothing to lose, it's his fifth year and last, two knee surgeries, I feel sorry for anyone that tries to stop or block him this year, he's gonna be DANGEROUS. GO GET EM' REYNOLDS, BOOMER SOONER..
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TexaSooner, Houston (8/10/2009 5:10:24 PM)
Good Luck Ryan, Wishing you the best this season!!!!!!!!!!!! We need you.
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T!ger,, Tulsa (8/11/2009 7:50:20 PM)
BOOMER SOONER!!!!!!!!!!
 

 
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