Meachem looks to rebound

• By LES EAST
• Special to The Advocate
• Published: Apr 20, 2008 - UPDATED: 12:50 a.m.

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METAIRIE — As the Saints finalize preparations for next weekend’s NFL draft, their first-round pick in last year’s draft is working to justify that selection.

Robert Meachem, wide receiver from Tennessee, was the 27th player selected in Round 1 last year. One year later he has played in exactly as many NFL games as he had when he was drafted — zero.

Injuries put him behind from the beginning and he never caught up. The result was a de facto redshirt season that impatient fans would call a bust.

“It’s very motivational to hear somebody say, ‘Well, he was a bust,’” Meachem said recently during a break from the Saints’ offseason workouts. “Your pride kicks in — to prove everybody wrong and just let everybody know you weren’t a bust and you’re going to do what you’re supposed to do.”

Meachem was supposed to help offset the loss of four-time Pro Bowl receiver Joe Horn.

“You want to show your fans that it wasn’t a bust,” Meachem said. “We had a bad season last year and every fan that comes up to you still says you’re going to win the Super Bowl every year. You’ve got to perform for them. That’s who you’re playing for — your fans and your family.”

Meachem, who said he’s “full speed” and “not looking back”, sought guidance from veteran David Patten, who sort of took over the role Meachem abdicated. Patten, like Meachem, who had another knee surgery while in college, has had to come back from two knee operations.

“I wanted to know what he did,” Meachem said of Patten. “When you watch him, he looks quick as a cat at times. I’m sitting there thinking he had to do something I’m not doing to get his leg back stronger. I asked him what could I do and we’ve been working out ever since.

“He’s been in it 12 years. This will be my second year. What’s better than to work with a guy like that that’s going to push you? If I do good, he looks good, right?”

“From a humility standpoint, that takes a lot for a kid of that stature,” Patten said. “When you’re a first-round draft pick, a lot of times in this day and time, let’s be real, they come out cocky, I’m the man, I know it all, I’ve already got it down pat.

“For him to humble himself and come to a guy and be like, ‘Hey, I need you to help me, help me make it to the next level, help me do what’s expected of me.’ That’s the foundation, that’s where it starts. Before you can learn anything and get better, you have to humble yourself and be willing to learn.”

Quarterback Drew Brees said Meachem has always been eager to learn and he saw progress from him in practice last season.