Taking the next step

This offseason had the potential to be something very different for tight end Pat Freiermuth.

In the season finale against the Cleveland Browns at Acrisure Stadium, Freiermuth suffered a knee injury, one that knocked him out of the game and sent him to the locker room.

At first, he thought the worst.

But in time, he got the news he had hoped for.

“I went down, and I heard something,” recalled Freiermuth. “I definitely thought the worst and I was praying that it wasn’t. And I’m happy that it’s not.

“I’m very lucky that I dodged a bullet. I’m happy there’s no surgery and it’s just a sprain and so a month rehab and I’ll be good.

“Obviously the first month and a half of the offseason is just getting your body back and then getting back to your base level. So, I have to continue to do that and take some rest. But with rehab, that’s kind of my rest, just rehabbing my knee and then go from there.”

When he does get back to work, Freiermuth has his sights set on even more growth than what he went through the past year. From his rookie season in 2021 to this past season, he had only three additional receptions, 60 to 63, but his yardage increased significantly. In 2021 he had 60 receptions for 497 yards, an 8.3-yard average, while in 2022 he had 63 receptions for 732 yards, an 11.6-yard average. However, he had only two touchdowns in 2022 compared to seven touchdown his rookie season.

The bottom line, he wants all those numbers to increase.

“I saw a lot of growth in different areas of my game,” said Freiermuth. “If I took a step forward, it was in my run after catch and the number of targets I saw and the yardage. Obviously, I wish that I had more touchdowns and I wish that I put together blocking more throughout stretches instead of little increments.

“There’s always room for improvement. That’s part of being a professional athlete. They get paid on the other side too and any time you’re competing against someone else, you have to bring your best. If you’re lacking one day, it’s…