It had to be a sweet feeling for Illinois receiver Mikey Dudek.

After missing the last two seasons due to injury, the Illini WR was back on the field for Illinois’ season opener against Ball State last Saturday. As if being in uniform wasn’t enough, Dudek caught the team’s first touchdown pass of the 2017 campaign. It was a great moment for the receiver and the Illini.

But a few weeks before any of that transpired, Big Ten Network editor Alex Roux had the chance to meet up with Dudek and talk about the past few years. Here are just a few of the excerpts from the interview:

BTN.com: What went through your head in those first 24-48 hours after your second ACL tear, knowing you had to do that recovery process all over again?

MD: There was a lot of thoughts. I even questioned if I wanted to play football still. When Doc told me that it happened, I thought I was in a dream. I wanted to just wake up there, and it would be gone. But I dealt with it, I attacked it head on. I was able to deal with that adversity I was given. I’m thankful for it, because it made me a stronger man in the end, on and off the field. So at first, when I heard the news I didn’t think anything positive would ever come out of it. But after going through back-to-back (rehabs), I’ve seen the positives that can come out of it.

BTN.com: Speaking of that, I noticed you came out of this recovery process—I know some pictures were taken during one of your team lifting events—looking jacked. You looked like The Rock out there. Dude, what’s the secret, what’s been going on? What are they feeding you?

MD: (Laughs) Nah, I mean, the secret is upper body for two straight years, unfortunately. I wouldn’t have wanted it to be that way, but given that I did have a lower body injury two years in a row, it definitely had me lifting a lot. A lot of upper body.

Dudek also talked with BTN about the rehab process, being back with his teammates and a few other random topics.

The interview was suppose to be released prior to the start of the season, but due to audio issues it wasn’t released until after the first week.

It would’ve been great to hear how Dudek felt after catching that touchdown pass vs. Ball State.