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Jake Butt couldn't help but get a little nostalgic over the simple routine of putting all his pads on again.

Reasonable. It's been a while.

The Denver Broncos tight end returned to the field in full gear Tuesday for the first time since tearing his right ACL against Florida State in the Orange Bowl on Dec. 30 A'Shawn Robinson Jersey , 2016.

"I kind of thought about it when I put on the pants. It was like, 'Man, I haven't put on the pads in almost two years,'" the Michigan standout said. "It was exciting. It felt good out there."

Next order of business: Jerseys .

Butt and his family don't mind having a little fun with their last name. And now that he's fully healthy, those No. 80 uniforms will be going fast 鈥?taken by his clan and completely customized (his father had "Papa Butt " on his jersey when Jake was at Michigan).

"We're ordering in bulk," Butt said. "We're building the 'Butt Army' out here, for sure."

It was on hold last season as the 23-year-old recovered from the knee injury that caused him to slip to the fifth round of the 2017 draft. The Broncos were hopeful to have him back for the second half last season, but he wasn't ready and went on injured reserve.

Butt declared Tuesday his knee feels "100 percent" again. He wasn't wearing a protective brace when the team donned full pads.

He could be a big boost to the tight end corps. The 6-foot-6, 250-pound Butt won the John Mackey Award as the nation's top tight end his senior season at Michigan. He had three catches for 28 yards against Florida State in the Orange Bowl before tearing his knee.

His recovery has been somewhat slower than he anticipated. The rehab has been filled with plenty of ups and downs.

"It's not just you're getting better and better every day. You have some days that are better than others," said Butt, who had 138 catches for 1,646 yards while with the Wolverines. "In that sense, you have a mental component. But once you're on the field, for me personally Kyle Fuller Jersey , you're playing football. You're not thinking about any bumps and bruises you might have."

He used the down time in 2017 memorizing his routes and reads. He's putting it to good use now.

"I had a year to observe how pro football really works," Butt said. "Going back to the spring, I really got into the playbook so I can hit the ground running in camp."

Butt has plenty of competition in camp among a tight end group that's got deep Big Ten Conference roots. There's rookie Troy Fumagalli, a fifth-round pick out of Wisconsin. There's also Jeff Heuerman, a third-round pick in 2015 from Ohio State who's currently sidelined by a balky knee. Not to be left out: Matt LaCosse attended Illinois, and Austin Traylor went to Wisconsin.

Fumagalli has an easy explanation for the league's representation.

"Well-rounded," he said. "I can't speak for all of the Big Ten, but a lot of the schools they expect you to be a pass catcher, a pass blocker and a run blocker. They expect you to be well-rounded."

Butt's hoping to display that throughout camp.

"You know you can't come in and take a day off because that next guy up is hungry," Butt said. "Everyone in our room is making plays and doing a great job. That's going to help us in the long run."

He's already developing a solid rapport with quarterback Case Keenum.

Then again, Butt said that's not difficult.

"Case is doing a great job connecting with a lot of guys out there," Butt said. "That's the advantage of having a veteran quarterback. He understands where to go with the ball, where to put the ball, what reads to make. We're trying to take advantage of that."

NOTES: DE Derek Wolfe briefly left practice Tuesday with what coach Vance Joseph described as a small stinger. "He's fine. He came back out. He's OK Randy Bullock Jersey ," Joseph said. ... OT Garett Bolles returned to practice after taking a hit to the chin. "When you have these head injuries, any type of a head injury, it's always going to be on the safe side to check him out," Joseph said. ... CB Tramaine Brock will miss about a week with a hamstring ailment, Joseph said. ... OG Ron Leary on his scuffle with LB Todd Davis during practice: "It's all love."

BOSTON — The last time the Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Angels met, both teams were hot and the three-game series in Anaheim was to provide some sort of early excitement to the long and winding baseball season.

The Red Sox, who came in 13-2 against the 13-3 Angels, not only won all three games but did it by a combined count of 27-3.

“Give those guys credit. They had a great series,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said after the finale, and after the Red Sox beat up on Shohei Ohtani.

David Price, who won the opener of that series, faces the Angels and emergency starter John Lamb on Tuesday night in the opener of a three-game series at Fenway Park.

With six starting pitchers on the disabled list, the Angels were able to get Ricky Skaggs back after the right-hander missed a game with a tight hamstring, but he had to pitch Monday’s makeup game at Kansas City. That left Lamb Jermey Parnell Jersey , a left-hander with a 2-12 lifetime record and 6.12 ERA, to make his second start in the opener of the series against Boston.

Missing Skaggs meant the Red Sox were able to avoid a pitcher who had won three straight starts with an 0.45 ERA (he lost 2-0 on Monday). Now, losers of 10 of its last 14, Boston gets Lamb, who allowed three runs in 3 1/3 innings replacing Skaggs last week.

The Red Sox are coming off a series win over the Seattle Mariners, finishing off a 4-3 two-weekend win over the AL West contenders. They rode a 13-strikeout effort from Chris Sale to a win in the rubber game Sunday.

“I’m glad that he’s on my team and I don’t have to face him,” Boston’s Mitch Moreland said of Sale (7-4). “He’s filthy and showed it again today.”

The matchup at Fenway renews the “best player in baseball” talk, with Red Sox fans pushing Mookie Betts over Mike Trout.

While Betts spent time on the disabled list with an abdominal strain and missed a weekend game with illness, Trout has DHd the last six games because of a sprained right index finger.

“After a week, he was going to throw and evaluate it,” Scioscia said Monday. “We’re kind of there now. We’ll see. He’s not going to play center field (Tuesday). It’s how he progresses when he starts to throw.”

Amazingly, Trout is a .371 hitter in 16 lifetime games at Fenway, but he has never hit a home run in the old ballpark. He has driven in 11 runs and stolen six bases.

Price had a six-game (seven-start) winning streak snapped his last time out, at Minnesota Sammie Coates Jersey , but allowed just three runs in six innings and could have won with some support.

Price is just 6-7 with a 3.45 ERA lifetime against the Angels.

The current LA roster doesn’t have much to brag about against the lefty. Albert Pujols is 10-for-31 (.323) with two homers and five RBIs, but Chris Young is 1-for-14 (.072), Luis Valbuena 1-for-8 (.125), Ian Kinsler 5-for-29 (.172) with a homer, and Trout 4-for-23 (.174) with 11 strikeouts.

Lamb, with the Cincinnati Reds the past two seasons, has never faced the Red Sox.

The Monday makeup allowed the Angels and Royals to celebrate the postponed April 15 Jackie Robinson Day, so all players on both teams wore No. 42 Monday.

“We’re all obviously very proud to do it,” Scioscia said before the game. “I think it’s cool. We missed it (on April 15) and the guys had been looking forward to it. They were like, ‘Oh, man.’ It’s kind of nice because we’re the only two teams doing it today. We’re happy about that, for sure.”

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