Heat’s Tyler Herro reveals ‘unique’ injury recovery amid practice return

MIAMI – With the Miami Heat coming off the All-Star break, looking to hit a second wind and turn around the season, the team is about to get some huge help in the return of Tyler Herro. As rumors have swirled about Herro’s Heat return coming imminently, he spoke for the first time since missing the last 15 games due to a rib injury about his recovery.

It’s been a frustrating season for Herro, as coming off an All-Star and career year in 2024-25, has missed 45 games with a myriad of injuries, only playing in 11 outings. He was absent the first 17 games of this season due to an offseason ankle surgery, then would miss 13 more with a toe contusion, which would then lead to the recent issue that was listed by Miami as “right costochondral; injury to the ribs.”

Herro returned to practice Thursday and was a full-go in the session, which no doubt opens the door for a return either on Friday against the Atlanta Hawks or Saturday vs. the Memphis Grizzlies. While he wouldn’t commit to a return on Friday, he told ClutchPoints that, “I feel just as good as last year, actually.”

The 26-year-old also went into how “unique” the injury was, saying how he fractured three ribs, and while he played three games off Torodol shots, which manages pain, it wasn’t a season-long plan.

“It was unique,” Herro said to ClutchPoints. “Once I knew what it was, it was just a matter of relaxing and letting my body recover. There’s nothing I could magically do to fix my ribs; I had three, like, fractured ribs. So my ribs were in a lot of pain, just doing normal lifestyle, things I couldn’t do, so there was no way I could play basketball. I played the first three games off of Torodol shots, and it was cool, but I couldn’t do that for the rest of the season, so it was a matter of just letting this thing calm down.”

Tyler Herro speaks after returning to practice (was a full-go) after missing the last 15 games with a ribs injury. Will travel with team, but not certain if he’ll play tomorrow.

Spoke about the recovery, his frustrating season, Norman Powell being an All-Star, etc. #HeatNation pic.twitter.com/FX13kYtkCE

— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) February 19, 2026

Heat’s Tyler Herro on his injury-riddled season

While there had been concern involving Herro and the Heat regarding injuries, the star is hoping to close out the final 26 games on a high and healthy note, expressing how there isn’t much discomfort anymore. It was so bad that he had trouble getting out of his bed, as Herro noted, but it has progressed to the point where he can “fully move” the way he needs to play basketball.

“Yeah, it’s been real, real frustrating,” Herro on his injury-riddled season. “Obviously, as a competitor, somebody who loves playing the game more than anything, that’s what I do. Obviously, it’s what I do as a living, but I love the game of basketball, so it’s hard for me to just sit out and not be able to play. It’s never easy on me. So happy to be back out here, it’s been a rough year for me…so I’m just gonna try to stay healthy and try to put some good basketball here together in the last couple months.”

It remains to be seen what Herro’s role looks like when coming back, as coming off the toe contusion, he played the first game off that injury off the bench to ease him in, then led to the starting lineup. Either way, it’s “encouraging” to get Herro back with the team, as head coach Erik Spoelstra echoed the same sentiments.

“See how he responds when we get to Atlanta,” Spoelstra said. “But it was very encouraging to have Tyler here in practice. You know, he had done everything he needed to do in the last few weeks to prepare for this. And it’s encouraging to have him back in the mix. We’re all excited about it.”

Erik Spoelstra speaks about Tyler Herro returning to practice and how “encouraging” it was to see him gel with the team.

Wouldn’t commit to him playing tomorrow as Herro echoed earlier. #HeatNation pic.twitter.com/3f1kwQ37we

— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) February 19, 2026

At any rate, Miami is 29-27, which puts them eighth in the Eastern Conference, as they travel to take on the Atlanta Hawks on Friday.

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