Transcript: Tight End Daniel Bellinger

Tight End Daniel Bellinger

Q: Will a visor have to go on the facemask?

A: Yeah, eventually I'm going to get a visor and probably wear one for the rest of my career.

Q: You look tough, right?

A: Yeah.

Q: Did you have any vision issues or do you now?

A: I still have a little double vision. The doctor said it was normal to have that so it's just kind of waiting for that to heal up and wait for that to go away.

Q: What did they have to do?

A: They had to go in under the eye and put a plate in, just get the bone fixed up, and then they had to fix my septum as well.

Q: What's the process of being cleared to play? Is it just vision or does it have to heal more?

A: Let it heal a little more. They said that the plate in here is supposed to fuse to the bone. So, let that heal up and just kind of go with how I feel and how my vision feels. It's getting better day by day.

Q: How scary was it when it happened?

A: Incredibly scary. When it first happened, it kept getting really puffy and it was kind of numb around the eye, so I was afraid that it was the actual eye. I was afraid at first but once I got to the hospital and the doctor looked at the eye and said the actual eye was okay. I calmed down a little bit.

Q: So, you went to the hospital in Jacksonville and then you went back and left with the team, right?

A: Yeah.

Q: I guess seeing blood is a frighting thing also.

A: I didn't know it was actually bleeding as much as it was at first. It was all numb right here, so I thought it was just sweat coming down. I didn't realize it was blood until a little bit later.

Q: Is your vision full now or is there blurriness?

A: I can see. The vision is good now, still a little double vision but like I said it's normal. The doctor said it's normal day by day.

Q: They give you any idea of a timeline? Hard to predict maybe?

A: No specific timeline but they said just go how I feel and once the plate is more healed up with the bone.

Q: Knowing how you feel and what they say, are you confident you can play again this season?

A: Absolutely. Definitely confident I can play again this season. Just getting out there running the last couple of days felt good. Really just kind of just getting this swelling to go down completely and once the eye is level with this eye, the vision will be even better.

Q: Is that the only thing you can do now is run? Can you lift? What can you do right now?

A: Just kind of taking it with what the trainers have me do. I've been running for the last couple of days. I think I'm going to try to get a lift in here the next couple of days and see how that feels.

Q: Caught any passes?

A: No passes yet. Once I do, I'll get a helmet with a visor on and go through that.

Q: How much of a bummer is it that you were having such a good rookie season and this happens?

A: It's unfortunate. It's a one-in-a-million injury, that's how I see it. Just got to come back and be stronger because of it.

Q: At the time, it just seemed like such a freak thing. Looking back on it, was there anything that you could have done differently to prevent it?

A: I don't think so. I just think that wearing a visor will help. He was going for the ball and I had the ball close to my facemask and he got in there. Just a freak accident. I think just wearing a visor will protect that in the future.

Q: Will you plan on wearing a visor for the rest of your career?

A: Yeah. For now, definitely yeah. I'll wear one for a while.

Q: Did (Jacksonville linebacker Devin Lloyd) call you up?

A: He messaged me on Instagram. Sent a nice message apologizing. He didn't mean anything by it. I played him in college, too, and I never saw him as a dirty player. I think he's a good player and he apologized for it so it's cool.