This situation has been building for quite sometime now.
Leonard played in 3 games in 2022. After having surgery in June he came back week 4 and suffered a concussion. Came back week 8 played 2 games before Saturday shut him down after it was discovered he had a nerve issue in his back.
In addition to the physical recovery, It has to be a monumental struggle to regain form once you mentally check out and/or question your own commitment for a period of time.
After the devastating loss to the Jags at the end of 2021 season.
“Had to work on me as a person,” he said. “For me, it was more mental. Last year, I wasn’t in the right mental space to hold everyone accountable, and I felt like I let the team down in that aspect the last two games. I felt like we got comfortable with winning.”
And then in May of 2022.
"In this profession, sometimes you feel like you don't have a say so in your personal life just because it's all football, all football," Leonard said, via the Indianapolis Star. "When you feel like you have to hold a shade up on your personal life because of your football life, it eats you up.
"I fell out of love with the game".
Finally, It became both a production and distraction issue the team was no longer willing to ignore.