When it comes to Jayson Tatum and his recovery from a torn Achilles, the Boston Celtics refuse to come even close to uttering anything that could come close a timeline on a return to NBA action. This has been true from Day 1, and something that Brad Stevens has reinforced time and time again.

And even with Tatum making what looks like serious strides in his comeback attempt, Stevens is remaining true to that organizational message.

“We’re not putting a timeline on it, as we haven’t the whole time,” Stevens said in a meeting with the media earlier this week. “I think one of the things that everybody can see that we didn’t apply for a [disabled player exception with Tatum] this year, which was a conscious decision for a lot of reasons. But the reality is, he’s not going to be back until he’s 110 percent healthy, and he feels good about it.

“And that’s a big part of it, right? Obviously, he’s itching to play, [and] obviously, he hates watching. But he’s also very cognizant of the need to meet every threshold and why there are those things that are put in place.”

In a way, this felt a bit like Stevens pumping the brakes on Tatum almost two weeks after Tatum posted a training video where his motion looked fluid as can be for someone who’s seven months removed from an Achilles repair.

And though Stevens rightfully refuses to put a timeline on his franchise player, he did provide some insight as to the levels Tatum must clear before talk of a comeback becomes anything even close to real for Tatum and the C’s.

“There’s strength thresholds he has to meet,” Stevens said of the comeback path in front of Tatum. “And then after that, several weeks of progressions, from the standpoints of scripted against small groups, scripted against bigger groups, scripted in five-on-five, unscripted, random, all the way up through those.”

Speaking with Zolak & Bertrand earlier this month, Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said that he had not seen the videos that Tatum posted, but acknowledged that Tatum is working his ass off in his rehab. The videos alone are proof, of course.

And for a Celtics team that’s likely been better than anticipated given the Tatum injury — as well as the summer sell-off on players like Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis — there’s been a legitimate hope (prayer?) that a Tatum return could elevate the Celtics back to legitimate contender status in an unsettled East.

At 15-11, the Celtics are just 5.5 games behind the Pistons for the best record in the East, and have played Detroit well this year. They’re also just four games behind the two-seed Knicks, and have also played them well this season.

It may have seemed insane in the summer, but if the East is this uncertain, then even a limited Tatum could be enough for Boston to make noise.

But Stevens, as steady as ever, is not ready to even think about it just yet.

“It’s a long progression,” Stevens admitted. “And it’s almost like, once you hit the strength, then you do your thresholds of a progression of play, and then you’re also reconditioning to play real minutes, whatever that looks like. He’s obviously made great strides, [but] right now, we’re still focused on the full-strength game.”