Dan Morgan eager to play for Saints, provided he can stay healthy

Three days of organized team activities hardly constitute a comeback for Saints' weakside linebacker Dan Morgan.
But it's a start.

"It's exciting getting back out there and mixing it up with the guys and playing football again," Morgan said Thursday. "I feel good. Every day I just feel better and better and more comfortable being out there.

"The Saints have been great through the whole process. I definitely appreciate that they want me back and are giving me this second chance. Hopefully I can help them out and we can go on and win a Super Bowl."

Morgan, 30, is trying to make a comeback in New Orleans after giving up his body and soul for seven seasons with the Carolina Panthers. This is his second attempt at a comeback with the Saints, who signed him as a free agent in March 2008, upon his release from Carolina. Two months later Morgan announced his retirement, citing health and family reasons.

In February, Morgan had a change of heart and rejoined the Saints after being reinstated by league officials.

Now the question is which Dan Morgan are the Saints getting? The 11th pick of the 2001 NFL draft who made 25 tackles for the Panthers against New England in Super Bowl XXXVIII, or the injury-riddled former Pro Bowl middle linebacker whose career has been marred by numerous concussions, a broken leg, pulled hamstring, a chronic bum shoulder and partially torn Achilles tendon?

Today will be Morgan's fourth practice at his new position of weakside linebacker under Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams.

"I played weakside linebacker my first three years at Miami and outside linebacker my first year at Carolina, so it's not like I haven't played the position, " said Morgan, 6 feet 2, 245 pounds. "I have the speed and the athletic ability to play on the outside, but it's definitely a different feeling out there than in the middle. It's actually kind of fun. I was real excited to get back out there."

Morgan last played in a game Sept. 23, 2007, when he suffered a season-ending injury to his Achilles tendon. A year earlier, he missed the final 15 games because of a concussion, his fifth reported concussion going back to his college days.

"Being out of football for a couple of years, it was a nervous and exciting feeling that first day of OTAs, " Morgan said. "I didn't feel like a rookie, more like a second-year guy getting back out there with the guys and getting my feet wet again.

"I feel real confident in where I'm at right now. It's the third day now, and I feel completely normal."

Though the depth chart is not etched in stone, it appears Morgan is working with the second unit.

"You welcome a guy like that back, and you respect the passion of him wanting to continue to play, " Saints strongside linebacker Scott Fujita said.

"He's an intense competitor, " said Saints guard Jamar Nesbit, who played in Carolina with Morgan during the 2001 and '02 seasons. "He's a great athlete, a hard worker and a smart person who's going to be in the right position almost 9.9 times out of 10. He cares about what he does and he cares about winning, so he'll definitely be an asset on defense."

Nesbit recalled the first day he shared a practice field with Morgan in Carolina.

"He was flying around full speed making tackles in shorts, " Nesbit said. "We all were kind of like, 'Oh my goodness, ' and he hasn't slowed down since.

"The only thing that we ever worried about was him staying healthy, just because he was kind of an undersized guy playing the middle. As long as he plays outside, I think he'll be great. He played his heart out trying to play middle linebacker, but it's just not his body type."

Saints Coach Sean Payton expressed the same appreciation and concern for Morgan.

"He's a guy who has been very productive and very successful in our league, " Payton said. "He's in real good shape, he works extremely hard and he has trained well. As we move into training camp and put pads on, staying healthy will be the big thing for him."

Morgan remains cautiously optimistic.

"I'm more excited than I am concerned," he said. "I've worked extremely hard and my body feels the best it has in a long time.

"So far, so good. I'm just taking it one day at a time."

(blog.nola.com)