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Saints-McKenzie
07/28/08 - 04:52 PM
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JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - Without Mike McKenzie on the field, the
New Orleans Saints’ defense takes on a different look.
Forget the long dreadlocks flopping from the back of his helmet.
It’s his ability to cover receivers one-on-one, which frees up
teammates for other assignments and gives defensive coaches a
little less to worry about.
“That’s what top cornerbacks do. They make everybody else’s job
easy. They make the coaches’ jobs easy and make the other players
around them better,” Saints secondary coach Dennis Allen said.
“Mike’s a real good one-on-one cover guy. He’s one of the upper
echelon corners in this league. He’s big. He can run, get his hands
on guys. He’s just a good all around football player.”
McKenzie was cleared to practice on Monday for the first time
since tearing his right anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus
late last season.
“I’m doing really well. I could have easily been cleared
before,” McKenzie said. “I’m so far ahead of schedule but I’m
just kind of going on the cautious side instead of being real
aggressive.”
Even as the Saints struggled on defense last season, with the
secondary taking a lot of the heat, McKenzie enjoyed one of the
best years of his career.
His three interceptions led the team and he tied a franchise
record by returning two of them for touchdowns. He set a career
mark for interception return yards with 161. He also led the Saints
17 passes defended and his 63 tackles were his most since 2002,
when he was playing for Green Bay.
He did all that in barely more than 14 games. Then, during the
opening series of the Saints’ second-to-last game of the season,
McKenzie was involved in a mad scramble for a fumble by
Philadelphia quarterback Donovan McNabb near the Saints’ end zone.
McKenzie got to the ball first, but landed awkwardly as he tried to
fall on it and the ball squirted away. McKenzie quickly got up to
give chase, but then went down on both knees in the back of the end
zone.
While the Saints prepared for their regular season finale in
Chicago the following week, McKenzie headed to Birmingham, Ala.,
for reconstructive surgery by Dr. James Andrews, who is known for
his work involving athletes.
When McKenzie arrived, he was greeted by Saints running back
Deuce McAllister, whose second ACL tear in three seasons had
occurred several months earlier. McAllister had remained in
Birmingham for several months after his operation, as would
McKenzie, for rehabilitation under Andrews’ watch.
“It’s good to have someone who’s been through it and kind of
knows what to expect,” McKenzie said.
McKenzie asserts that his recovery has far outpaced what
trainers expected. Barring another unforeseen injury in training
camp, he expects to be ready for the Saints’ regular season opener
on Sept. 7 against Tampa Bay in the Louisiana Superdome.
“The concern for me was doing too much, too early, and possibly
having a setback,” McKenzie said. “Dr. Andrews was worried I
might get tangled up with someone, but that’s a part of football
and can happen at any time.”
Head coach Sean Payton said he intends to limit McKenzie’s
training, perhaps allowing him to practice only once a day, similar
to what he’s done with McAllister and newly acquired tight end
Jeremy Shockey, who broke his leg last December. The Saints are
practicing twice a day during most of training camp.
McKenzie’s return will be a boost not only to his teammates, but
also to the regions’ fans, who’ve increasingly warmed to the star
cornerback as he has worked to expand his community service
efforts.
McKenzie, who grew up in Miami’s inner city, was the Saints’ Man
of the Year last season for his charity work. His time in the
trainers’ room with McAllister gave both players a chance to talk
about their desire to help the region recover form Hurricane
Katrina, and they ended up participating together, along with
defensive end Will Smith, in a Fourth of July event in which they
handed out free food and personal care items to needy families.
“In New Orleans, with everything that’s happened in the past,
it’s real easy for me to get involved and kind of gravitate toward
people in the community,” McKenzie said. “We have so many guys on
our team that make a concerted effort to get involved and give
back, so for me that’s kind of a natural deal.”
At 32, McKenzie has been playing in the NFL for a decade now.
Life after football is getting closer, but he should be well
prepared. During the offseason, he attended the University of
Pennsylvania’s Wharton Business School for the NFL’s Business
Management and Entrepreneurial Program.
Just don’t mistake McKenzie’s growing interest in business for a
subtle admission that his injury and his age have caused him to
lose a step.
“There’s always exceptions to the rule,” McKenzie said. “It’s
all about the individual and how the individual is taking care of
his body and how he works. It’s easy to just say once a guy’s a
certain age he’s done, but obviously there’s a lot of great guys
who play for a lot of years.”
McKenzie intends to be one of them.

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