Jon Patton came close to breaking his personal best time in the club’s 3km time trial on Monday as he continues his remarkable recovery from an ACL injury.

Patton underwent surgery on his right knee on August 26 after rupturing his ACL in the Round 21 game against Melbourne.

Just over four months later, Patton joined 36 other players in completing the test on their first day back from the Christmas break.

“It’s great to see him back on the track,” said GIANTS High Performance Manager David Joyce.

“We sent him out to do the time-trial not because we thought he would break any records but because it gave us a really good indication of where he is at and it gave him a really good indication of where he is.

“The really good thing is that he wasn’t far off his all-time PB.”

Patton began rehab on his knee immediately after surgery and spent much of his eight-week end of season break at the club continuing his recovery.

He began running just 97 days after his knee injury and has continued to progress ahead of schedule.

Patton had a superb 2014 season that included 19 games, 25 goals and a NAB AFL Rising Star nomination, with the big forward committing also extending his contract with the club in August.

“One of our key philosophies is that all our players come back better than ever before and he’s well and truly on track with that,” Joyce said.