BILLINGS, Mont. – Two-time World Champion Jess Lockwood will not be pursuing a last-minute World Finals berth next weekend at the 2022 Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour Finals, presented by Coastal Bend Chevy Dealers, in Corpus Christi, Texas.
Lockwood told PBR.com Friday inside First Interstate Arena at Metrapark that his left shoulder injury is essentially recovered but that he is in no physical condition to attempt to win the Velocity Tour Finals next weekend and qualify for the PBR World Finals.
Instead, Lockwood is focusing on getting his body back into prime riding shape in due time as he plans out his future aspirations for the remainder of 2022.
“I don’t know, honestly,” Lockwood said during the PBR Tractor Supply pre-show on RidePass on Pluto TV about when he may return to competition. “I’m not going to be able to finish out the (UTB) year, I know that much, with the regular season. Realistically, I think my shoulder from last time seeing (Dr.) Tandy (Freeman) has been healed in the last couple weeks here, two weeks or so. But in that process, he didn’t want me working out, stretching, just not doing anything whatsoever to help the healing. And I tell you what, I don’t know how long it’s been since I went two months without working out, but I’ve lost a lot of strength, and my body’s so tight and stiff and sore. If I tried to ride a bull right now, I’d either tear something, or I’d get jerked down first jump.
“So looking at it from an athlete and rider, there’s no point in trying to hurt myself in that way.”
Lockwood has had his career derailed by injuries that last three seasons since he tore his left hamstring in March 2020, four months after becoming the youngest two-time PBR World Champion at 22 years old. This is the second consecutive season in which he has failed to qualify for the PBR World Finals because of an injury, shutting down his season last year because of a core muscle injury/surgery.
Lockwood most recently injured his left shoulder following a 2.36-second buckoff against Jersey Tuff on Feb. 11 at the PBR Express Ranches Invitational, presented by Union Home Mortgage, in Oklahoma City. At the time, he had ridden three of his last four bulls and was seemingly beginning to turn things around.
The 24-year-old has since fallen to No. 65 in the world standings, but he is still only 76 points outside the World Finals picture.
Lockwood will have ample opportunities to return to PBR competition before the start of the 2023 Unleash The Beast season. He could decide to declare for the PBR Team Series Draft, presented by ZipRecruiter, or he could eventually enter some PBR Challenger Series events this summer/fall.
Lockwood may not know exactly what his plan is just yet, but retirement is not an option he is considering at this time.
“I’ll be riding bulls the rest of the year, regardless if it for some reason happened to be Teams or if I just happen to be going to bull team events of my own or little stuff, just riding practice bulls and getting back in winning form and winning shape,” Lockwood concluded.
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko
Photo courtesy of Michael Pintar/Bull Stock Media