Meachem ready to break out

• By SHELDON MICKLES
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Aug 6, 2008 - Page: 1C - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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JACKSON, Miss. — If you knew New Orleans Saints wide receiver Robert Meachem, you would know he’s a man of very few words.

But if the second-year pro helps the Saints make it back to the playoffs this year, the few words he said to teammate David Patten at the end of the 2007 season will speak volumes.

Meachem, a first-round draft pick, struggled with knee and ankle injuries in his first training camp. Patten said Meachem also developed giant blisters on his big toes and, as a result, was inactive for all 16 regular-season games.

A rangy and speedy receiver from the University of Tennessee, he continued to struggle when training camp and the preseason ended — running with a noticeable limp in practice until midseason.

So when Meachem approached Patten and asked him about becoming his workout partner in the offseason, Patten listened before the 12-year NFL veteran laid out the ground rules.

“I told him I lived on the (north side) of the lake,” Patten recalled, “and I told him he was going to have to come to me because I wasn’t going to Metairie every day. He said, ‘I’ll be there at 9 a.m. every day.’ ”

Patten said Meachem never missed a workout even though he had to make the long trek across the Causeway Bridge four times a week starting the week after the Super Bowl.

“One time he called me and said he wouldn’t get there until 10 o’clock,” said Patten, “but I never had to call him once to remind him. And we were getting after it, lifting weights and running hard. In between, I gave him little tidbits about the game.”

Their common bond as NFL receivers and teammates was cemented throughout the winter and spring as Patten talked and Meachem listened.

“David is like a bigger brother from a different mother,” said Meachem. “He gets on me when times are bad and encourages me when times are good.

“So it’s the best of both worlds. He’s always telling me something, teaching me something. How can you not learn from a guy that’s played for so long?”

When the Saints’ started their strength and conditioning drills, the rangy Meachem was far ahead of the curve. He impressed during organized team activities, a series of on-field coaching session held in shorts and helmets.

Once training camp started, Meachem was ready to begin trying to earn his game day jersey and stake a claim as the third wide receiver behind Marques Colston and Patten.