Saturday, July 05, 2008
Cheeseman makes steps to recovery
Aaron McFarling
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BLACKSBURG -- A football under his arm, Jahre Cheeseman bounces from one leg to the other, clearing a bar that rises about 6 inches off the ground. Lateral movement -- that's the key. Got to get it back.
It's a little after 7 a.m. on Wednesday, but Cheeseman is wide awake. Trudging up and down the East stands of Lane Stadium has a way of smacking sleep from your eyes.
The Virginia Tech tailback had already ascended the bleachers 10 times with some teammates, beginning at 6:30 sharp. He does this twice a week. Now, as others rest, he is in the training room.
Alone.
He finishes another round of lateral bursts and steps away from the bar.
"This," Cheeseman says, pausing frequently to catch his breath, "is a different kind of work ... than I've done before. This ... is more kind of ... drive. Everyone here ... works hard ... just to get strong ... and get better.
"But now I kind of feel like I've gotta ... do better ... to kind of prove myself a little bit."
He leans over and pants some more.
"That's pretty much it -- prove that I can come back."
The position will be won now. Not in August, when everybody can smell the opener a few weeks on the horizon. Maybe the quarterback will be decided then, or the receivers, or a few special-teams slots. But tailback, a premier job tossed into disarray last spring, can't wait. It will be judged on who is the strongest, the healthiest, the smoothest. And those characteristics are honed here, a full month before practice begins.
Cheeseman has a tremendous opportunity, mostly because his injury was less severe.
It seems odd to say that about a guy who snapped his left fibula three months ago, but it's true. All signs indicate he'll be full speed for the Aug. 4 opening of practice. The other top contender, Kenny Lewis Jr., is not as fortunate. Even though he's exceeded expectations in his recovery, Lewis can't return until mid-August.
Lewis' torn labrum -- discovered April 10, just two days before Cheeseman broke his left leg -- must be given full healing time. No compromising on damaged tissue.
"We've actually had to slow him down in what he does," Tech athletic trainer Mike Goforth says of the eager Lewis. "Right now, he's a beast. He doesn't look like he's even had surgery."
Neither does Cheeseman, despite the scar on his left leg that proves it.
At 7:30, the team moves into the workout room. Cheeseman performs all the calisthenics right along with the other guys. Then he lifts weights for a half-hour. Then he moves outside and runs sprints in the sand pit.
"Man, you sure you were hurt?" asks Tech women's basketball player Shani Grey, after watching Cheeseman glide through the grains.
Cheeseman smiles.
"I guess they haven't seen me since the crutches," he says.
He had to lean on those for three weeks. Nearly a month later, he was still in a protective boot. But things began turning in June, when Cheeseman was cleared to walk the stadium steps. Just last week, he began running with the team.
"Right now, I'd say I'm probably about 85 percent," Cheeseman says. "I can run and everything, just not full speed. I haven't tried to. They told me to take it slow.
"The cutting is still what I've got to work on mostly. The planting and cutting stuff, but I've got a lot of time to do that. I'm going slow and steady, to get my cardio back. That's what I've been trying to do mostly."
There's no sharp pain in the leg now, only a slight ache on the initial four or five steps of each workout.
And workouts are plentiful. A redshirt junior, Cheeseman runs and lifts with the team four times a week. He also comes to the training room at least twice for rehabilitation exercises.
"I know Coach [Billy] Hite," Cheeseman says, referring to the veteran boss of the Tech running backs. "And if I don't come back in good condition and ready to go, then he's not going to play me. That's what I've got to work towards right now, just getting in good condition and not gaining too much weight while I'm hurt, and not losing too much. Staying strong. Staying fit. Healthy cardio wise. So this is kind of where it plays out -- in the weight room."
A tangible indicator of Cheeseman's progress comes later this month. The team will conduct its final preseason testing. Included in that is the "110 test," where the players run 16 lengthy sprints at about 75 percent of full speed. For whatever reason, even a healthy Cheeseman has never passed this subjective measure, always falling short of his times.
Goforth predicts that will change this year.
"I think he's a man on a mission," the trainer says.
He is. And he's driven not only by the injury, but also by outside expectations. Cheeseman knows that many people view him as a potential star -- they tell him so all the time.
His reaction to this is refreshing. He thinks he's overhyped. After all, he only has 21 career carries. What exactly has he proven?
"I think it's just kind of a mindset I've always had," Cheeseman says. "My mom always tells me, 'You're not the best. There's always going to be somebody who's going to be better than you, or works harder.'
"People see a couple highlights, like [the 70-yard run at] Georgia Tech or something like that, but I figure Kenny could have done it. Branden Ore could have done it. [Dustin] Pickle could have done it. At any given time, somebody can be better than me. That's why I feel like I'm not as good as some people think. I haven't arrived anywhere yet. I haven't even been the starter."
Maybe he'll earn it.
Maybe this morning.
