With their rehabs in the rearview, Rex Guthrie and Carter Nelson are both moving into the fall with clear eyes and fresh motivation.
Guthrie, the third-year safety, is done with the surgery, done with the recovery and ready to get back into the kind of competition that made him a redshirt freshman starter last season. He said the biggest relief was getting the issue fixed.
"Feels good to be back with the boys - 100 percent doing everything again," Guthrie said during a 'Sports Nightly' interview. "The biggest thing was just getting the surgery and getting it fixed, because it had been bothering me for some time."
The 6-1, 200-pound Guthrie was one of Nebraska’s most active defenders a year ago, finishing with 63 tackles, the second-most by a Husker freshman since 1972. He logged 532 snaps, a number that showed how much the staff trusted him.
Even while he was working back from offseason labrum surgery, Guthrie kept grinding on the mental side of the game. He said he spent his time trying to sharpen his understanding of football and stay locked in on improvement.
"Just understanding football, trying to watch as much tape as I can. Get in the weight room.
Get in the field. Try to better myself every day," Guthrie said.
His film study goes deep into the details, with a focus on down-and-distance, coverages and personnel so he can catch the little tells that matter. And he likes the feel of the defense right now, saying it has become "a really tight-knit group" over the last few months.
"Just not worry about anything outside the building. Just focus on us and do what's required of us and do what we got to do to win," he said.
Nelson is approaching his return from a different angle, but with the same kind of urgency. The tight end said the offseason was about changing the way he thinks, and playing with more force.
"The biggest thing for me has been just trying to change my mindset," Nelson said to Husker play-by-play man Kyle Crooks. "The football will come. At the end of the day I think you just got to understand if you're going to go kill somebody, you'll go kill them."
The Ainsworth native still has three seasons of eligibility under the new 5-in-5 rule, and he said one of his biggest strengths is being willing to do whatever the team asks.
"I think that's one thing that I kind of hang my hat on," he said.
Nebraska’s offense is also searching for more explosive plays, and Nelson sees that as a chance for the tight ends to matter even more. He likes what quarterback Anthony Colandrea can do when a play breaks down and the scramble drill starts.
"So just the ability to kind of put another extra move on somebody when we get into scramble drill is super beneficial to have," he said.
Nelson said he saw "swag" and "playmaking" from Colandrea this offseason, and he called those traits essential at quarterback.
"They're the leader of our team so it's got to be somebody that's willing to go out there and make a play, and willing to step on somebody's toes, and not be scared how they're going to react to it."
For Nelson, that ties back to the whole tight end room. He said the group wants to contribute, and he believes there are enough guys in the room who can get on the field and feel comfortable doing it.
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