So much for receiver Paul Richardson making a miraculous comeback from offseason ACL surgery.
According to the Boulder Daily Camera, coach Jon Embree has ruled the standout receiver out for the first two games of the season. Richardson said in July that he was optimistic that he would be ready for the season opener against Colorado State.
However, Richardson hasn't practiced this month and isn't in game shape.
"He's not ready," Embree told the paper. "He hasn't run any routes really yet. He hasn't done any team work, timing, all those issues.
"He'll have to get some time with us — when I say us, I mean the players on the field — before we say, 'Yeah, he's ready to go.'"
Richardson underwent surgery for a torn ACL he suffered during spring football in April. At that point, many believed Richardson would redshirt the 2012 season, but he recovered quicker than doctors and coaches anticipated and started talking about a comeback on Twitter in July.
Embree told the Boulder Daily Camera that he thought Richardson might be ready for the Buffs game at Fresno State, but that he'd need at least a week of practice before he felt comfortable definitely placing him in the lineup.
Richardson, a UCLA transfer who has yet to have a healthy season with the Buffs, would be a huge boost to a Colorado receiving corps. Currently, Colorado has two sophomores in Tyler McCulloch and Keenan Canty, who played sparingly last year, redshirt freshman Nelson Spruce, and true freshmen Gerald Thomas and Jeff Thomas, who is suspended for his role in an Airsoft gun incident earlier this month.
Richardson told the Daily Camera back in July that he would only rush his comeback if he felt like his team needed him on the field.
"It will also go by how much my team needs me," Richardson said. "If my team needs me and I can do it, I will do it. But if my team is doing well and to a certain extent they don't need me, I would just take that time to get better. Coming back in say 17 months is better than coming back in five."
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