During last fall and into the winter, West Virginia defensive lineman Eddie Vesterinen was back at his apartment with his leg in the air, headset on, playing video games.

“Call of Duty, of course,” Vesterinen said.

Vesterinen had so much free time that he even hit prestige seven, which means he completed the game seven times to simplify things.

Being crouched in an apartment around a television isn’t the normal habitat for a 6-foot-3, 282-pound defensive lineman. His home is in the backfield, throwing down a quarterback, and then maybe celebrating after.

Vesterinen was robbed of those celebrations last year. During the second game of the season against Albany, Vesterinen went down with a brutal leg injury. Later, it was declared season-ending, so after two games, Vesterinen’s season was over.

Vesterinen went from playing and doing what he loved to watching from the sidelines on crutches, going through what every athlete hates: the recovery period. NFL quarterback and former No. 1 overall pick, Andrew Luck, went through the recovery process so many times that he retired from football early because he couldn’t take it anymore.

“Last year, grinding on me whenever I was looking at the games, let’s say from a TV or later in season, when I got on a sideline,” Vesterinen said. “It was really not being able to be there when your team needs you.

“Just when your teammates are running out of the tunnel and you’re not there. I learned a lot about my myself during that time, and I think I’ve grown a lot since then.”

Returning to the field after an injury is a long, grueling process. It involves a lot of repetition and mental strength. There is a lot of learning to be done. In the time alone, you learn about yourself, but you also learn how to prevent future injuries.

Body maintenance is more important than ever because the best ability is availability. Recently, the NFL made roster cuts, and the easiest players to cut are the ones who are injured. Some athletes, like LeBron James and NFL running back Derrick Henry, spend millions of dollars a year on recovery just to stay healthy, because of how important it is to be successful long-term.

Wide receiver Jaden Bray went down with a season-ending injury and was in a similar situation. He was also frustrated about not being able to play. After getting injured and growing up, Bray learned the importance of recovery.

“I knew a little bit of it, but like more serious,” Bray said. “Like when you get older, you get smarter, so of course, you realize how much it helps you in the long run. Usually, before every lift, we’ll have our nutritionist, [Jonathan Brainard], go up there and tell us what we need to be having done and how important sleep is and recovery and stuff like that. I’ve definitely gotten better over the years since I was a freshman.”

Rich Rodriguez stated that he wanted to set a record for playing the most players, and after the depth chart was released, there are still a ton of position battles up for grabs. Players are looking for any way to separate themselves, and the only way to do that is on the field. So, staying healthy is super important.

After talking to a couple of players this season, the consensus goal is to win a lot of games, but most of the individual goals are just staying healthy to avoid going through that long, taxing process.

“Mainly just staying healthy,” Bray said. “Usually, with team success, you usually get individual success. As long as like we’re doing good, I feel like I’ll be right along with the team doing good as well.”