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Saints running back Daniel Lasco back with 'more hunger' after dealing lingering injury



By Josh Katzenstein jkatzenstein@nola.com,
NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune

Daniel Lasco earned an important role as a rookie with the New Orleans Saints.

During the first five games, Lasco was one of the Saints' core special teams players, and he made two tackles in his NFL debut. In those handful of games, the running back had just six carries and two receptions, but for a seventh-round pick, playing any amount of offense and special teams to open the season is impressive.

Then, Lasco suffered a hamstring injury. He missed the sixth game of the season in Week 7, and even though he returned for Week 8, the ailment would force Lasco to sit out eight of the Saints' final nine games.

Suddenly, a promising rookie year took a turn for the worst. Lasco went from being a factor in games to spending practice sessions in the training room and staying in New Orleans during road games.

"You kind of feel like an outcast," he said. "It's tough on anybody being hurt. Being in that spot, in that position, I learned a lot from it, and I don't want to be back in that position again."

Entering his second year, Lasco is performing in training camp as he did last season. He's a powerful back unafraid to put his dead down and gain extra yards. He's quick enough to evade defenders. And he's consistently competing with the top special teams group.

Lasco feels healthy, but he spent a lot of time this offseason working to ensure he could avoid a lingering injury similar to the one he dealt with in 2016.

He said his agent took him to visit a hamstring specialist and a "muscle fiber" specialist. Lasco researched his diet and other stretching methods he could employ. Now, he's doing extra stretching, yoga and dry needling to make sure he stays healthy and doesn't have another experience like last year ...

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“The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” — Winston Churchill