Jalen McMillan stood in the tunnel before the Falcons game. Clicking his cleats against the cement floor of the tunnel, McMillan reflected upon the seventeen weeks that had passed since Pittsburgh. If you’ve ever experienced that nervous feeling prior to making a big drop, that’s how McMillan felt.
Doctors cleared him to return to the field. McMillan’s teammates were supportive. However, that one nagging question continued to plague McMillan during the long hours of sleepless nights. Will his body give out when it matters?
The Hit That Proved McMillan’s Neck Was Fine
Jalen McMillan had a catch in the second quarter. The catch went for nineteen yards across the middle of the field. A touchdown was called, but then officials changed their minds and ruled he went down on the one-yard line. This was validation of all that had happened. On Monday, he spoke about coming back from an injury.
“The ball came to me,” McMillan said. “The doctors told me I was fine. My neck was healed. As soon as I went over the middle, that was something that I just needed, and I felt good.” That initial contact told McMillan everything. His spine stayed strong. The fusion of the vertebrae was fully healed. No sharp pains traveled down his arms. But the actual injury was absolutely frightening.
On Aug. 16, McMillan collided with another player on the Heinz Field grass, and then he simply got up and walked off on his own accord. Even though he cracked jokes with Sterling Shepard afterwards, the news McMillan received was devastating. Three broken vertebrae. Torn ligaments. And according to McMillan, doctors told him the worst news possible.
“I almost got paralyzed,” McMillan shared Monday. The 24-year-old wore a neck brace for 3½ months. He required assistance with routine chores. Strangers staring at him made him feel uneasy.
Depression was overwhelming. “It was dark for me at first,” McMillan acknowledged. He did not have the ability to stay optimistic. Two weeks were spent wallowing in sorrow. Something then shifted. He would force himself to visit Barnes & Noble each day.
Reading Stephen King’s “Billy Summers” and Blake Crouch’s “Dark Matter.” Taking up chess until Mike Evans beat him. Learning to cook instead. McMillan’s family came to visit from California, and they all took a sunset boat ride together. McMillan became a different person. And now the real test was here.
The Falcons‘ defense closed in around McMillan. He stretched across the middle fearlessly. The ball came to him naturally. He had perhaps dreamed of this moment a thousand times throughout the 3½ months stretch.
The Journey Back to the Field
McMillan’s mental fortitude helped separate him from other athletes. Sterling Shepard understands this better than anyone else. “You go through an injury like that,” Shepard stated, “a lot of times, guys will come back and be hesitant to do things. J-Mac picked up right where he left off.”
The Buccaneers desperately needed every single play. After losing to the Falcons, the Buccaneers’ record dropped to 7-7; their chances of reaching the playoffs hang by a thread. Relief came in the form of two Buccaneers players.
Mike Evans returned that same evening and collected 132 yards on six receptions. His 39th career 100-yard receiving performance placed him in a tie for 4th amongst active players. Both Evans and McMillan received praise from teammate Tristan Wirfs on Monday. “Mike broke his collarbone, and J-Mac broke his neck. The rehab is not fun, and it isn’t easy. They put in a lot of work behind the scenes.”
Jalen McMillan was able to finish with 2 receptions for 38 yards. However, he would be denied the touchdown after officials called him down at the 1-yard line. To him, it did not matter. He had proven something bigger than that. “[The doctor] said, ‘I have God on my side,’” McMillan said. “I’m just blessed.”
The hit over the middle of the field validated all of his work. All of those months in a neck brace. Those depressing morning hours. Those books he had read and all of those chess games he had lost. A single reception gave him a new outlook on life. The Buccaneers have now gotten back a warrior who will appreciate each and every snap.