NFL Sundays took a toll on Redskins wide receiver Cam Sims last season. Physically, Sims suffered a high ankle sprain on the opening kickoff of the regular season opener that landed him on Injured Reserve. But that wasn't the main cause of his frustration and disappointment. In a little over a month, the undrafted free agent out of Alabama had returned to full strength.

It was the mental aspect that proved much more difficult, especially after the Redskins activated wide receiver Trey Quinn and running back Byron Marshall off IR in November, effectively ending Sims' rookie campaign. By rule, NFL teams are only allowed to activate two players off IR per season. So while Sims was healthy enough to play, he would have to wait until next fall.

"Every Sunday I would cry because I wasn't out there playing," said Sims, who estimates he watched three or four games throughout the year. "I just had to get up out of that. After I stopped crying, I was just like, 'Man, let's go. I can't do that. Let's go. Let's go do something. Let's go work.'"

Since early January, Sims has spent nearly every weekday at the Inova Sports and Performance Center at Redskins Park preparing for the upcoming season. He's out to prove that his productive preseason, during which he led the team in receiving yards, was not an aberration but rather a sign of what's to come.