CHARLOTTE -- Just being able to move smoothly was Jeff Otah's primary focus when he went through the gauntlet of organized team activities last year.
He hadn't fully recovered from the high ankle sprain he suffered during his senior season at the University of Pittsburgh. His practice time was truncated; he didn't finally take the field with the first team until the second week of summer school, missing the first week and the minicamp prior to that.
What the ankle needed most was rest, and he didn't get that in the months leading up to the draft. The closest he'd come was before last year's organized team activities. He was unable to fully recuperate before the draft because of the workouts and training necessary to burnish his stock for professional evaluation.
He made it onto the field and flourished as a rookie, but in Week 4 against Atlanta absorbed another ankle injury that sidelined him for all of October 2008. By November, he was able to push through the pain and return.
"The injury made it harder because I couldn't practice as hard as I wanted to, because I would be hurting," he said. "I wish I wouldn't have gotten hurt last year, but it happened. I think it made me stronger as a player. This year I'll try to keep it clean."
So far, there's no sign of ankle trouble. With four months between the end of the postseason and the start of minicamp, Otah had his lengthiest time away from the field since before his senior year.
"That really helped the ankle heal," Otah said. "I felt it (healing) a little bit (during the season), but now it just feels great. I don't feel it at all."
Even when grappling with the lingering effects of the ankle injury, Otah's footwork was stellar for a 330-pounder, allowing him to show the blend of finesse and power that caused Carolina to trade up for him in the 2008 draft. With his ankle back to full health, one would expect him to look even more fluid on his feet in his second season.
But the most significant aspect of Otah's recovery could be mental. With the pain of an aching ankle no longer lingering in his brain, Otah is free to concentrate on the cerebral aspects of his position. He didn't feel he could do that effectively until the final weeks of his rookie campaign.
"I felt by the end of the season I started to get it a little better and play a little faster, but the season was over and it didn't end the way we wanted it to," Otah said.
The biggest difference now?
"Just being able to play fast out there and make less mental errors," he said. "If I could do that, I'm sure I could help my game out."
So far, so good.
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