Joe Mazzulla: Jayson Tatum has had ‘zero setback’ in his Achilles rehab

Boston Celtics

“He knows that if we get him back, we’re just going to be a better team, and there’s just no ifs, ands or buts about that.”

Jayson Tatum has seemingly been ahead of schedule all season when it comes to his return from a ruptured Achilles tendon.

But with the Celtics now past the midway point of the 2025-26 season, Tatum’s return to the parquet floor this year might be in jeopardy.

NBA insider Chris Haynes noted late Wednesday night that Tatum’s plans to return at some point this season may not be set in stone. 

“It is up in the air on if he’s going to return at all this season,” Haynes said. “I was told there were a couple of factors of why he’s reached that point. But as of right now, that changes the whole landscape because Tatum even told me personally he was returning at some point.

“He was getting to return and he was getting close. I was hearing he was getting close and league sources told me that the situation has changed.”

Even though Tatum has been a regular sight at Celtics practices and shootarounds as he continues to work his way back into game shape, his recent comments on “The Pivot Podcast” shed some light on the potential reservations that he might be weighing as he gets closer and closer to game action. 

“That’s something I contemplate every day,” Tatum said of potentially joining Boston for the stretch run. “More so about the team. If or when I do come back this season, they will have played 50 some-odd games without me, so they have an identity this year or things that they’ve felt have clicked for them. And it’s been successful.

“So there is a thought in my head, like, how does that work? Or how does that look with me integrating myself off the injury … 50, 60 games into a season? There obviously could be some challenges,” Tatum added. “And it is a thought: Do I come back? Should I wait? It’s something that I honestly, recently, in the last two weeks or so just kind of contemplate every single day.”

Despite Tatum’s candid musings about joining a Celtics team that is already sitting near the top of the Eastern Conference, Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla said on 98.5 The Sports Hub’s “Zolak & Bertrand” Thursday that his star player’s approach hasn’t changed in recent weeks.

“The mindset has been relatively consistent (and) where it has been the entire season,” Mazzulla said of Tatum’s approach. “We don’t know yet. It was never a yes, it was never a no.

“It was, ‘Let’s work as hard as you can, trusting the sports science team, trusting his development, whether it’s in the weight room, on the training table, and then put yourself in the best possible position to be as healthy as you can be, and then reevaluate it.’”

Tatum’s potential second guess isn’t due to any physical issue with the 27-year-old forward, according to Mazzulla. 

“There’s been zero setback,” Mazzulla said of Tatum. “He’s progressing naturally.”

As for the mental aspect of getting back on the court and jumping right back into the playoff chase with a reworked roster, Mazzulla said that it shouldn’t come as a surprise for Tatum to show some tepidness as he tries to return to game action.

“I look at disruption as a positive,” Mazzulla said. “He’ll come back and just make us better. I think it’s two things. One, I think as you go through an injury and a process like this, a thousand things are going to come up. And I think one of the greatest things about a guy like Jayson is his openness and his vulnerability and his honesty about where he’s at as a player and a person. So, I think you have to reward that, and those are just natural things. 

“But the second piece is, he knows that if we get him back, we’re just going to be a better team, and there’s just no ifs, ands or buts about that. He should never be worried about disrupting in a negative way, but he’ll be disrupting in a positive way because he’ll just make us better on both ends of the floor and already add to what we’ve been able to build here this season.”

 

Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.