Green Bay cornerback Pat Lee is just going to have to catch a break and have an injury-free season so he can play like a second-round draft pick.
He missed the final month of his rookie year with a knee injury.
He missed all of 2009 with a different knee injury he suffered in the final preseason game.
He missed three games last year with an ankle injury that opened the door for Sam Shields.
At this point, Lee is going to use his play in the Super Bowl as a springboard and play football without a setback.
He knows it better than anyone. On Monday, the man of very few words did say this, not once, but five times:
"I am trying to stay injury free. That's the main thing," said Lee. "That will be the best thing going for me this year."
Lee's finest moment as a Packer came when they needed him the most.
He did not miss a defensive assignment when pressed into emergency duty in Super Bowl XLV. As Green Bay lost Charles Woodson with a broken collarbone and nickel corner Sam Shields with a shoulder injury, Lee filled in for 20 defensive plays against Pittsburgh.
Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger could muster just 120 passing yards in the second half, not enough to beat the Packers for the Lombardi Trophy. It was a moment that showed Lee's ability beyond the special teams gunner he has otherwise been.
Who remembers that besides maybe the coaches and teammates?
After the Super Bowl, his childhood friend Jason Hill called around to Florida TV and radio stations asking why they weren't even mentioning the play of the former Christopher Columbus star out of Miami, Fla., in the Super Bowl. All he ever saw was a 30-second TV clip about Lee's mom.
Lee has always shied away from attention. A shorts and white T-shirt guy without the flashy jewelry, he gives time and money to his old his school and Hill's nonprofit local football camp. Otherwise he's all about his wife, daughter and football.
"He's on a mission this year," said Hill.
This is Lee's fourth year in the NFL, a contract year. He needs to have a good camp and he needs to have a good year before the Packers might consider re-signing him.
EDITED
Added Lee's agent, Todd France: "He's a great player, has tons of potential he hasn't tapped into. He's absolutely not satisfied. He's a phenomenal kid."
JSOnline wrote: