Tracy Morgan on First Film After Crash: ‘I Tried Not to Think About It … and Just Started Being Funny Again’

Tracy Morgan is crediting his Fist Fight cast mates with helping him adjust to life back on the big screen.

The 48-year-old comedian is returning to the big screen for the first time since the deadly 2014 traffic accident that left him hospitalized in critical condition — and he said it has been no walk in the park.

Morgan recently told Entertainment Tonight that he “tried not to think about ” as he filmed alongside Ice Cube and Charlie Day in the upcoming comedy.

“If I’d have thought about it, I might have got shook. So I didn’t think about it,” he said. “I got back on the bike and started riding.”

Morgan has made a slow return to the spotlight after the crash on the New Jersey Turnpike left him with a fractured leg and in a coma for two weeks. Morgan’s friend and mentor James “Jimmy Mac” McNair died in the accident.

The former Saturday Night Live star thanked God for not taking “comedy and sense of humor away from me” and said the support of his castmates was just what he needed to get back into the swing of things.

“They believed in me and they allowed me — they gave me the space to be creative on set,” he said. “So, with that comfortability, I just started being funny again.”

Fist Fight features Morgan, 46, as a high school staff member. He recently stopped by for a chat on PEOPLE’s Instagram Stories, revealing his connection to the athletic character.

“I was a high school soccer star,” he said. “I was labeled as Pelé’s great grandson. Holla at me.”