‘Gravy’ Time for Rice

For two weeks, Jerry Rice wore the cast over his reconstructed left knee. Then he decided enough was enough, went into his garage in the middle of the night and sawed it off.

Four days ahead of schedule, the cast came off, and for the NFL’s all-time leading receiver, the drive began in earnest to defy the odds. Rie plans to get back on the field before the end of the season for the San Francisco 49ers. He even has a target date in mind--Dec. 15 against the Denver Broncos.

Club president Carmen Policy marvels at the progress Rice has made since tearing the anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments and suffering cartilage damage in his left knee in San Francisco’s season-opening 13-6 loss at Tampa Bay.

“He’s not of this earth,” Policy said. “It’s like he came here on a comet and Mr. and Mrs. Rice raised him so we don’t judge him by mortal or earthly standards. When doctors look at him, they don’t examine him as much as they are informed.”

Policy added the team is encouraging Rice through his rehabilitation, but his return will ultimately be guided by medicine, not emotion.

“We’re just going to roll with the punches with Jerry,” Policy said. “We’re going to insist that no matter how accelerated his progress is, he’s going to listen to doctors.”

The 35-year-old Rice, one of the league’s most durable players and the NFL’s career leader in touchdowns, receptions and yards receiving, suffered the first major injury in his 13-year career when he was yanked to the ground by Tampa Bay’s Warren Sapp while running an end-around in the Aug. 31 opener.

He underwent surgery the next day.

Two weeks later, he took off the cast, on his own, and a week after that shed the crutches, taking on his rehabilitation with the same kind of zeal he has applied to his legendary off-season conditioning.

“I was not weight-bearing for six weeks. Jerry was walking after three. In that sense, he’s already ahead of me,” said 49ers cornerback Rod Woodson, who came back to play in the Super Bowl for Pittsburgh after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament in the 1995 opener.

“We’ve chit-chatted about it,” Woodson said of the pace of their respective rehabilitations. “I think you make the decision based on what’s best for you. You know, I got to play in the Super Bowl and there’s no guarantee that I’ll ever make it back again. So for me, it was worth it.

“Now Jerry has to weigh whatever factors he has to consider and he has to make the decision on when he wants to come back.”

Rice’s daily regimen now includes 2 1/2 hours of range of motion exercises and weight training, under the guidance of the same physical therapist who helped his wife, Jackie, recover from debilitating complications arising from the birth of the couple’s third child in 1996.

He also runs and jogs on his own before 49ers practices and games, and stays involved with the team by playing the role of quarterback and throwing to receivers during drills. He offers sideline advice and encouragement on game days.

“It’s good for us,” said second-year wideout Iheanyi Uwaezuoke, who with J.J. Stokes and Terrell Owens now form the heart of the San Francisco receiving corps.

“In this type of business, you never know what will happen. And seeing a guy like that have that type of injury and seeing the way he’s responded to it, I think that can be nothing but positive for us. He’s a guy that loves the game and likes to be involved in any way he can, and it’s kind of his channel to still feel the game.”

Rice declined to discuss his physical progress in detail, though he made clear he’s still aiming for the Dec. 15 return date he first mentioned last week in an interview with ESPN.