Knee injury behind him, Tannehill 'looks great' at first day of Dolphins OTAs

For the first time in four months, the Dolphins on Tuesday held an actual, honest to goodness 11-on-11 practice.

And Ryan Tannehill, by all accounts, participated. That’s noteworthy, as most everything Tannehill does will be until he proves that his knee issues are truly behind him.

Tannehill injured both his left ACL and MCL in mid-December, but the player and his team decided that rest and rehab — not surgery — was the way to fix it.

And while reporters will not get a chance to see him actual move around on that knee until Thursday, his teammates vouched for both his health and his attitude.

“He looks great,” running back Jay Ajayi said. “He has his brace on but there's no difference for me. I don't see any difference.”

Said guard Jermon Bushrod: “He's good.”

This gibes with everything the Dolphins have been saying both publicly and privately for weeks now.

Offensive coordinator Clyde Christensen insisted recently that Tannehill hasn’t favored his left knee during the team’s offseason program, who added that Tannehill is “healthy.”

Tannehill is not only practicing, he’s practicing with an edge. He’s angry with how his season ended.

“He's determined,” Ajayi said. “For him, personally, knowing he's a competitor and him not being able to be out there, to finish the season for us, it feels like he has something to prove this offseason. He's really working hard out there. It feels really great to be out there, throwing and catching the ball with him. I think he's going to have a great year for us.”

Bushrod added: “You don't have to say anything to a competitor. You know how they feel.”

This story was originally published May 23, 2017 at 3:41 PM with the headline "Knee injury behind him, Tannehill 'looks great' at first day of Dolphins OTAs."