Denver Broncos tight end Jake Butt suffered the third torn ACL of his playing career early last season, and the road to recovery has not exactly been easy, both from a physical and a mental standpoint.

Butt appeared to be on his way back in training camp before what head coach Vic Fangio would call a “minor pothole” set him back a bit. However, it has been over a week since then, and Butt has yet to resume football activities.

“Right now I feel like I’m being tested and being thrown into the fire a little bit,” Butt said, according to Nicki Jhabvala of The Athletic. “To me, it just proves how much the game means to me. It almost broke me a couple of times. It would break 99 percent of other people. But I love this game, I’m committed to it and, yeah, there are dark days, but I’m still here at 7 every morning, still trying to work and get back. And I will get back. It’s just taking a little bit of time.”

While Butt said his knee feels okay, there is still no timetable for his return, and with the regular season starting in a month, you have to wonder whether or not he will be ready to go.

The 24-year-old, who played his collegiate football at the University of Michigan, was originally selected by the Broncos in the fifth round (145th pick overall) of the 2017 NFL Draft.

He missed his entire rookie campaign while recovering from the torn ACL he sustained during his senior year at Michigan, and in 2018, he played just three games before tearing his ACL yet again.