Jaguars DT Arik Armstead Reflects on Meniscus Surgery: 'I'll Be Back Very Soon'

Arik Armstead played with a meniscus injury through the 2023 playoffs.

In a Week 13 win over the Philadelphia Eagles, San Francisco 49ers defensive lineman Arik Armstead sustained a meniscus injury that forced him to miss the final five games of the regular season.

Armstead bravely returned for all three playoff starts, recording a sack in the Super Bowl loss to the Kansas City Chiefs while fighting through the pain. 

Now, Armstead is on the road to recovery following offseason surgery. And when he returns, it won't be the 49ers he suits up for. Instead, the next time Armstead feels 100% will come as a member of the Jacksonville Jaguars. 

“Knee is feeling good, surgery went great. I’ll be back very soon, I’m excited about that. I’m on a very good road to recovery, so I plan on being back to football fulltime very soon when my team needs me," Armstead told local media on Monday. 

Armstead missed five games last year, a year after missing eight games due to an ankle fracture. The amount of missed games in the last two seasons, coupled with Armstead's age, is likely a big reason the 49ers approached him for a paycut before his eventual release. 

But, as Armstead noted, he played through his injuries at the end of the 2023 season. And before 2022, Armstead went four consecutive seasons without missing a single game. 

“I’m very confident, these past couple of years I’ve had some random nagging things going on. But football is a sport with one hundred percent injury rate, people want to talk about my past two years and I missed four or five games last year. I finished the playoffs, I played in the Super Bowl," Armstead said. 

"Before these past two years, I hadn’t missed a game in five years. Injuries are a part of sports and I have my plan together in place to make sure I’m putting my body and myself in the best position to be out there for my team. I’m going to do that, and I think it’s going to go very well. I plan to have a long career; I think I got a good five or six more years in me. I don’t plan on stopping anytime soon.”