RICHMOND, Va. -- Washington Redskins tight end Jordan Reed dealt with pain from the time training camp opened last season. That pain ended his season after six games. Now that the pain is gone, he said he feels like himself again.
Reed will ease back into practice, but he was able to participate in individual work and remains confident in what he can now do after having multiple toe surgeries. Reed said he had the sesamoid bone in each big toe removed.
"I didn't feel [like] myself the whole year," Reed said. "That's why I had to get the surgery and have the bone removed. I'm feeling 100 times better.
"I can tell a difference because with the toes it was pain. I had pain all season, all offseason, and that pain was shutting down certain parts of the body that I needed. So you remove the pain and now I'm building my body back up and feeling great again."
Reed's health is paramount to the Redskins' offense. He has missed a combined 16 games over the last three seasons and has played in more than 12 games only once in his first five seasons. That 2015 season also happened to be his best, as Reed caught 87 passes with 11 touchdowns in 14 games while the Redskins won the NFC East.
Reed opened the 2017 training camp on the physically unable to perform list because of inflammation in the big toe of his right foot. He first hurt it in the spring, then opted for a stem-cell shot that didn't help.
"That really aggravated the toe a lot worse," Reed said. "The whole month of July I couldn't run. That set me back going into the season. It was a poor decision getting that shot. ... It was the wrong choice obviously."
The toe never quite healed and it led to other problems with his leg and hip. He used orthotics in his shoe to help cushion his toe, but it didn't help.
Now Reed is running pain-free. He had one surgery in December and the other in February.
"I feel a [180-degree] turnaround; feeling a lot better, much more explosive, much more strong and in better shape," he said. "So I'm feeling great."
Reed isn't the only Redskins player returning from surgery. Left tackle Trent Williams played 10 games last season, including six with a knee that eventually needed to have the tendons repaired. It was a weekly struggle for Williams to play and he almost never practiced.
"I've got mental security knowing that issue was fixed and nothing else is in jeopardy," Williams said. "Last year there was a lot of anxiety because I was putting myself at risk to further damage other parts of my body. Finally getting it fixed and letting it heal, I feel confident."
But he knows the recovery isn't over.
"Don't get me wrong," he said, "the problem is fixed but the healing part is still tough. It's still not going to feel the same at least for a few more months. I still have to work through that as far as scar tissues. It's still tough."
In total, the Redskins have four key offensive players who will be slowed at the start of camp. Starting right tackle Morgan Moses (ankle) and third-down back Chris Thompson (fibula) are practicing but will ease into full-time duty. It's not ideal for a team with a new quarterback in Alex Smith.
"It's one of those situations we had a couple years ago [2015] where guys weren't ever really healthy until Game 1 and we were trying to figure things out as we went along," Thompson said. "Then we were able to get going and caught fire."