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By Cameron Kiszla
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Indianapolis Colts defensive lineman DeForest Buckner missed much of the back half of the 2025 season with a neck injury.
While missing games was frustrating, he said some of the worst parts of his injury was the impact at home.
A Tough End to 2025
Buckner suffered a neck injury in the Week 9 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Nov. 2, and he underwent neck surgery the next month.
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At training camp on Tuesday, he told reporters that "I'm just excited to get back out there with the guys," a sentiment made all the more clear after he detailed how rough his recovery was.
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It was so difficult that he compared returning to camp to a major milestone.
"It felt like graduation day for me, personally, getting to this point from where I started on New Year's Eve," he said. "Not being able to do a whole lot after surgery, pretty much being in the bed and not being able to move around."
While the limits to his football playing were painful, so too were the limits placed on his role as a father.
"I couldn't even pick my kids up and stuff like that," he said. "I couldn't pick anything up heavier than 10 pounds for the first couple weeks, so it was frustrating, but I just kept my faith and kept working and trusting the doctors and my trainers. There was a lot of teamwork involved with the whole operation and recovery. I'm just happy to be at this point."
Buckner and his wife, Ashlyn, have three children, two boys and a daughter who was less than a year old at the time of his surgery.
While the Buckner family is surely happy to have their father and husband fully back, so too are the Colts happy to see their defensive stalwart return.
In his 10 seasons, he's racked up 71.5 sacks, including 43 for the Colts alone.
He's also twice been a Pro-Bowler for the Colts and was a first-team All-Pro in 2020.
That kind of production and veteran leadership will be needed for the Colts, who started last season as one of the best teams in the league before losing their last seven games and missing the playoffs for the fifth straight season.
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