Injured forward Josh Jenkins aims to be back in full training before the Christmas break.

Jenkins had played every game in his second season at Adelaide prior to fracturing his leg against Fremantle at Patersons Stadium in Round 18. The injury occurred when the 24-year-old landed awkwardly in a marking contest inside attacking 50m.

“As I hit the ground, my foot landed and then my body weight went through it. Being so heavy didn’t help, but it was just the angle in which I landed with my foot to the side,” Jenkins told afc.com.au.

“Something had to give way. It was probably fortunate I damaged the bone and not the ligaments.”

Jenkins had surgery to repair the damage and has been confined to a moon boot since.

“I had a plate and five screws inserted in my fibula,” he said.

“I wasn’t able to do much around the house for a while. It’s been quite tough, even just doing basic things like preparing meals. Since I’ve been able to put more weight through the moon boot, I’ve been able to get up and do things for myself.

“I can drive a little bit now, so I’m starting to get back to some normality.”

Jenkins relied on teammates, including rehabilitation partner Taylor Walker, to drive him around in the first few weeks post-surgery.

“Tex was quite good. I gave him a few lifts when he couldn’t drive and he probably paid me back too much, driving me here and there,” Jenkins said.

“It’s good. When a player goes down all the boys are more than willing to help out and when I got injured it was the same. I had to get back from Perth, which was difficult, but all the guys rallied around me.

“They gave me lifts and brought me lunches. I was very grateful.”

Jenkins has started walking on the Alter-G (anti-gravity) treadmill and hopes to cast aside his moon boot in the next week. The promising tall will gradually increase his work load, with the expectation of joining his teammates for pre-season training in late-November or early-December.

Adelaide’s 1-4 year players will return to training on November 6, with the remainder of the squad (5+ years) expected back on November 18.

“There’s no rush. I’m walking now and I’ll slowly progress from there,” he said.

“I’ll be touch and go to do all the footy stuff from the start of pre-season, but I should be up and running within the first few weeks.”

Jenkins, who kicked 24.24 in 18 games this season, became the focal point in Adelaide’s attack after Walker’s season-ending knee injury in April. The former Essendon rookie kicked a career-best four goals against Greater Western Sydney in Round Seven and a crucial three in the Crows’ come-from-behind win over North Melbourne at Etihad Stadium.

Jenkins said he’d been relatively pleased with his season, adding he wanted to improve on his consistency.

“I had three goals at the start of the year. I wanted to play in Round One, to play at the MCG for the first time and in a final. I achieved two of the three, so I guess I can be pretty happy with my season,” he said.

“I had some matches where I was a lot quieter than I would’ve liked, but with Tex (Walker) getting injured I took on the No.1 defender most weeks.

“I’m going to learn a lot from this year and, hopefully, I can take that into next year when Taylor’s back and also Tom.”

Still with only 28 AFL games to his name, Jenkins’ upside is enormous.

He’s already identified a few areas for improvement over the summer.

“Tex (Walker) and I were robbed of a year of playing together. I want to build that chemistry with him, as well as the other forwards up there,” Jenkins said.

“I also felt like I was in really good condition last summer and it held me in good stead for the year, so I want to get back to that level if not improve on my physical condition."