Speed recovery

Harrison has something to prove -- once again

July 27, 2007|Jackie MacMullan, Globe Staff

FOXBOROUGH -- You weren't sure about him, and that was a first. Rodney Harrison was one of the steely-eyed, redoubtable Patriots veterans who never forgot where he came from. He was a fifth-round pick who delighted in slamming his doubters to the dirt with one of his signature bloodless blows. There were players who have come and gone who concerned you because of their lack of mental concentration or physical commitment, but Harrison was never one of them. He was motivated, focused, prepared, intense, talented. How could anyone question that?

But he was hurt. Again.

And you wondered if -- finally -- his time was up in the National Football League.

Guess what? Rodney Harrison was wondering the same thing.

"Of course I did," Harrison confirmed. "I kept thinking, 'What the heck could happen next?' Just as my knee was getting better, I came back and broke my scapula. That was a freak thing. Then I worked my butt off to get back, and then it was the other knee, which was also a freak thing. I kept saying to myself, 'This is ridiculous.'

"It was incredibly frustrating, disappointing, but I also knew it was part of the game. I wasn't getting hurt because I was out of position or out of shape or unprepared.

"Still, it was a tough question to ask myself: 'How much more can I take?' "

There were warning signs he couldn't shake. In summer 2006, he reported to training camp following his rehab from a wretched knee injury that resulted in the tear of an alphabet of ligaments -- ACL, MCL, PCL -- and decimated his 2005 season. Now he was back, but he labored in some of the preseason workouts, and his electric burst of speed eluded him.

Maybe it was temporary.

Maybe it wasn't.

"There were a couple of times in training camp last year that [tight end] Ben Watson ran past me," Harrison acknowledged. "I was there, but I couldn't get him. So I started questioning myself. I mean, I'm running around out there with this big knee brace on."

He has been around long enough to detect the concern in the faces of his teammates and his coaches. Nobody said anything, because, after all, he was coming off major knee surgery, but they saw what he felt: He wasn't the same.

Harrison battled on. His mobility improved in increments. He started the first seven games last season and recorded 23 tackles and a sack, but then, Nov. 5 against the Colts, he was hauling down receiver Marvin Harrison when he landed awkwardly on his shoulder. The pain was excruciating, and familiar. He had broken his scapula, just as he had done when he played for the Chargers.

Six weeks later, he scratched his way back, but his season was again cut short when a low block by Tennessee's Bobby Wade crumpled his knee on New Year's Eve.