Arizona Cardinals general manager Steve Keim has revealed that safety Tyrann Mathieu could be fit in time for his side's first match of the 2014 season.
Mathieu tore both the ACL and LCL in his left knee during a match against the St Louis Rams in the latter stages of the 2013 campaign, with initial diagnoses ruling him out for at least nine months.
However, Keim believes that the 22-year-old will return ahead of schedule having thrown himself into the task of rehabilitating his knee.
"We think there's a chance that he'll be back by the beginning of the season," Keim told SiriusXM.
"He has been a gym rat. He's in here all the time. We have to kick him out of the building and tell him 'Tyrann, go home for a little bit.' He's always in the training room doing his rehab.
"I told him, 'Ty, don't listen to anybody because nobody can tell you and pinpoint the exact return date. That's up to you'. And he's a machine. He's the kind of guy that I really think can come back a lot earlier than people anticipated."
The Cardinals begin their 2014 campaign with a home match against the San Diego Chargers on September 8.
Barney Corkhill
