Arizona Cardinals second-year safety is ahead of schedule in his return from an ACL/LCL tear suffered in his left knee while returning a free kick in Week 14 in 2013 against the St. Louis Rams.
During a radio interview with Adam Schein on SiriusXM Radio on Friday, Cardinals general manager Steve Keim said Mathieu could be healthy enough to play by Week 1 of the 2014 regular season.
“We think there’s a chance that he’ll be back by the beginning of the season,” Keim said.
The Cardinals have had nothing but high praise for Mathieu’s rehab efforts.
“He has been a gym rat,” Keim said. “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.”