NFL locker rooms, particularly with expanded rosters in the offseason, are filled with players who have something to prove.
Will Blackmon knows that. But he also knows there's a time in a player's career when the urgency to prove himself is heightened, and even though it might be an overstatement to say the 25-year-old cornerback and returner has reached a now-or-never juncture, that's pretty much the way he's looking at 2010.
"It's an interesting period for me," said Blackmon, a fourth-round draft pick in 2006 now entering his fifth season. "This year I feel like I'm the one on the team who has the most to prove out of anybody.
"I think my time is overdue."
Overdue because in four years, Blackmon has played the equivalent of only two seasons, and he's entering 2010 recovering from yet another significant injury after tearing the ACL in his left knee in Week 4 of 2009.
The knee injury, which occurred when his leg planted awkwardly in the Metrodome turf on a Monday Night Football kickoff return against the Vikings, just added to the list of ailments Blackmon has compiled during his time in Green Bay. He's had a broken foot (twice), a cracked rib, a fractured thumb and a bruised quad as well.
All told, the injuries have forced him to miss 35 games (32 regular-season, three playoff) while playing in 32, and the repeated absences left him wondering if he would even get a contract offer when his rookie deal expired after last season, which concluded with him on injured reserve.
But he did receive a one-year tender, which he signed and sees as an opportunity he cannot squander. With all the ups and downs the Packers have experienced with their return game in recent years and the defense looking for potential starting cornerbacks to replace veterans Charles Woodson and Al Harris down the line, Blackmon's chance to make good is right in front of him, once he gets through his latest round of rehab.
"I'm thankful they trust me," Blackmon said of getting the tender offer. "I'm thankful for that, just that they see a lot of ability.
"I am going to go out there and show it, because I know I'll be back 100 percent. I'll be better than I was, I'll be stronger than I was."
Blackmon is confident the current knee rehab is going well. Last October, he had surgery about 3½ weeks after the injury, and the start of his rehab was delayed slightly because of a pair of bone bruises.
Beginning in January, he spent 2½ months rehabbing at Sport Science Lab in California and then returned to Green Bay for the start of offseason workouts in mid-March. He's been doing full-body workouts plus following the training staff's plan for added emphasis on his knee, and he began easy running a little over a week ago, more than a month ahead of when he thought he might.
He expects to be full-go by the start of training camp, and thinks he'll be far enough along to do some work during OTAs in June, but he anticipates being held out of those as a precaution.
There's always the chance, if not the likelihood, that the Packers will draft a returner and/or cornerback to add more depth and competition at those spots. But as anxious as that might make Blackmon to return to the field, it wouldn't be prudent to force himself back into action too soon.
"I just have to be smart, and go into camp fresh," he said. "I have plenty of time to get back. But I'm excited about how the process is going. I'm just keeping a positive mind and doing everything I'm supposed to do. I'm feeling great right now."
Blackmon wants to get back to feeling like he did in 2008, his best and only fully healthy season. That year, playing in all 16 games, he returned two punts for touchdowns, led the team in special teams tackles and had several promising outings as a nickel corner.
He doesn't take the skill for granted, but he feels returning punts and kicks was what he was "born to do." Where he really wants to make strides in 2010 is on defense.
He, along with fellow corners Al Harris and Pat Lee, were all on injured reserve late last season when the team's pass defense suffered breakdowns in losses to Pittsburgh and Arizona, and like any professional competitor, Blackmon believes he could have helped there.
To what extent will never be known. But with his smarts and ability to deliver a good hit, he'll get his chance once again to be part of this team's future on defense, once he's healthy.
"If that's learning nickel, learning corner, learning safety if need be, I just want to be on the field, period," Blackmon said. "The thing I need to work on is just trusting my eyes in terms of coverage and just be ready to make plays.
"You don't know when the opportunities are going to come, so you have to be ready at all times, especially with this (3-4) defense. You're prone to make a lot of plays. You're supposed to, that's what it's for. It's feast or famine, and when it's feast, there are huge rewards."
Thus far, it's hard for Blackmon to feel he's been blessed with many on-field rewards for his repeated off-field recovery work. He played in 48 of a possible 50 games in college, missing only two contests his freshman season at Boston College.
{sportsad300}But that kind of durability has since eluded him. He's been tagged with the label "injury-prone" in the pros, and while it used to bother him a bit, he said he's less concerned about outside opinions now and keeps his focus internal.
"I know I'm not injury-prone, and talking to Coach McCarthy, he knows that," Blackmon said. "It's not like I have a hamstring pull and can't go. These aren't toughness injuries. These are straight season-ending. Find anybody who snaps their foot in half, they're not going back out there. You break the top rib where the collarbone is, you're not going back out there. Tear your knee up, you're not going back out there.
"That's just been the story. But going through those things really made me mature and grow up and made me become a man for this game."
A man with another opportunity to take his career the next step -- a step that, through no fault of his own, has been a long time coming.
"I'm at the point where I'm not worried about getting hurt, not worried about what people think, not worried about what people say," Blackmon said. "I'm here to be the player I'm supposed to be.
"I don't want to be somebody who just made it to the NFL. I want to make a huge impact, and that's the plan. I'm not here just to settle and enjoy everything else. I'm here to achieve every possibility I can."
