Pacers Injury Update: Jeff Teague returns to court

According to Pacers.com, Jeff Teague began playing basketball again last week for the first time this offseason after resting a torn patella tendon which bothered the point guard for much of the past season.

Mark Montieth takes us inside the Fieldhouse for a nice pre-preseason update on the Pacers and in particular Paul George and Jeff Teague starting their playing relationship from scratch.

It doesn’t sound like the pair will be cutting up the locker room the way PG used to with George Hill, but cutting up opposing defenses is far more important and the reason Larry Bird wanted to swap GHill for Teague this season. Montieth explains that the two teamed up during informal team scrimmages on Wednesday which was PG’s first run at the Fieldhouse since returning from Rio.

But the real news in the story is the fact Teague is playing basketball, again.

Call me paranoid, but hearing all summer that Teague “should” be ready to go by preseason camp wasn’t very comforting. I was fully prepared for nightmare reports of the torn patella not healing as hoped, followed by a preseason of light activity and continual watered down injury updates that would keep Teague from going full throttle with his new team.

Teague brought the injury to light following the season when he posted his frustrations with the injury (and the Hawks keeping it quiet) on social media. This move made clear that the former Pike star seemed resigned to moving on from Atlanta.

After ending up back home with the Pacers, the injury quickly raised questions about Teague’s future. Would he be able to give the Pacers a full season of production? If the Pacers don’t get all Teague has to give this year, they are sure to struggle.

So news of Teague getting in work well before camp starts is certainly reassuring. Let’s just hope we keep talking about Teague playing basketball with his new teammates and stop worrying about his knee.