November 18, 2009

Chris Nguon
BearTerritory.net Senior Writer

For the first time since injuring his neck and lower back area on a hard fall against Oregon State, Cal star running back Jahvid Best gave a timeline as to when he might return to the field.

The key word in that sentence however, is might.

The former Heisman Trophy candidate rejoined the Bears this week and even though he's not participating or putting on the pads yet by any means, his presence around the team is certainly uplifting for a Cal squad that is looking to keep The Axe as the team prepares to tangle with rival Stanford 4:30 p.m. Saturday evening on The Farm.

"It means a lot (to be back out here) on the practice field with the guys," Best said. "It's good for me."

"We are just very fortunate and blessed that Jahvid is on his way back to recovery," added head coach Jeff Tedford. "It was a very scary injury but we are happy that he's going to recover 100 percent and doing well."

While Best probably won't be in pads until at least for another week at the earliest, the junior running back definitely admits he's feeling a lot better.

"Right now, my back is sore," Best said. "We're just taking it day-by-day. I'm just praying and hoping for the best."

As documented profusely over the last two weeks, Best's hard fall against Oregon State grabbed the attention of the entire college football audience, especially Best's fans around here in the Bay Area.

"I remember everything up until it happened," Best said. "The next thing I remember is waking up at the hospital. My memory is kind of fuzzy."

"Anytime someone gets taken off on a stretcher, it's taken pretty seriously," Best said. "But I'm a blessed person and thank God it wasn't as bad as it could've been. I definitely (felt) a lot of love from everybody."

Was Best frightened at all when he woke up in a hospital?

"I was actually pretty calm," he responded. "It didn't phase me too much but my Mom and a couple of my friends were pretty scared. It was an unfortunate incident but it didn't look too bad to me."

Best also stated that he is back to his normal baseline level on all his concussion tests that he has taken and hopes to return to the field soon, with a timeline of the Washington game in three weeks.

"Yeah, that's my expectation," Best said.