Larry Fitzgerald Happy To Be Back After COVID Battle

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He also said if he had any doubts he was loved and appreciated, those were wiped away by the hundreds of text messages and phone calls he received, checking on his well-being.


"Those things put life in perspective," Fitzgerald said.


Fitzgerald, 37, said right now, "I feel the best I ever felt," at least when it comes to an in-season body check. He had a couple of nagging bumps and bruises prior to the time off. Those are gone. He lost nine pounds, because he lost his appetite.


"He might be a little faster because he's had a couple of weeks off," safety Budda Baker quipped.


Fitzgerald said his Peloton regiment isn't enough to prepare him to play, not at the level and urgency NFL games require. But he did take part in practice Wednesday – a day he normally sits out – as he ramps back up. He also brings with him a cachet that will be important in the locker room, especially one dealing with a three-game losing streak.


"First of all, I think it's huge to have him back out there – that feeling of comfort knowing he's out there, obviously, the leadership he brings," quarterback Kyler Murray said. "I think everybody else feels a lot more comfortable when he's out there too."


With four games left in the regular season and even Fitzgerald contemplating his mortality, the potential of Fitzgerald's football retirement or decision to play an 18th season was inevitable to come up. Coach Kliff Kingsbury said it continues to be an honor to be around the future Hall of Famer and "I hope he plays five more years."


Fitz, however, said his isolation stint didn't lend itself to such subjects.


"I didn't really look at it like that," Fitzgerald said. "It was more the immediate future like staying alive and things of that nature. Football, and how long I'll play football, didn't really cross my mind."


Now that he's back on the field, football is the job. The Giants are next up. Assuming he plays, he will again try and extend his still-alive streak of 253 straight games with a catch. He will try and get the Cardinals back into the win column, and back into the playoff chase.


"I hope I'll be able to play," Fitzgerald said. "That's why I've been here the last 17 years, not to be watching from the sidelines or especially not watching from home."

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