Hayden Hurst’s offseason surgery may have come as a surprise to Carolina Panthers fans, but it certainly didn’t come as a surprise to him.
The 29-year-old tight end kicked off his post-OTA presser on Thursday by speaking on his recovery from a nagging groin injury—one that he said he dealt with all last season.
“Yeah, I feel pretty good,” he replied when asked of his status. “Battling with that groin and hernia surgery that I had right after the AFC Championship game. I played with it all year—since Week 1. So, just goin’ through mechanically, figuring out how to run healthy and all that stuff again. But should be in walkthrough and routes on air tomorrow. It’s fun to get back out there, it’s fun to get back in the mix.”
Even with the injury, Hurst mixed it up for one of his best pro campaigns in 2022. The former Cincinnati Bengal reeled in 52 grabs for 414 yards—both the second-highest marks of his career—and a pair of touchdowns.
And perhaps the sixth-year veteran improves on those numbers in 2023, as he looks to play all 17 games for the first time in what he believes is an accommodating offense.
“It’s very tight end-friendly,” he said of the system. “When you’re in the red zone, it’s very tight end-centric. I think everything kinda goes through that, especially when you have a young quarterback. You get the ball out quick to guys that are kinda in your first sight of vision.”
Hopefully for Hurst and the Panthers, their vision for the tight end spot is much brighter than what they’ve been seeing over the past few years.
