METAIRIE (AP) — Adrian Arrington announced his long-awaited return to good health with a spectacular, twisting 47-yard catch in the New Orleans Saints’ second preseason game last weekend.If he can make it through a second exhibition this Saturday at Oakland, he’ll have reached uncharted territory — he appeared in only one preseason game as a rookie in 2008. “He’s been so unhealthy,” Saints wide receivers coach Curtis Johnson began. “We’ve just got to see more of him and feel comfortable that he’s going to be here all year.”With no picks left in the seventh round of the 2008 draft, the Saints traded their sixth-round pick in this year’s draft to Green Bay in order to take Arrington, who’d turned pro after making 67 catches for 882 yards and eight touchdowns in his junior season at Michigan.The 6-foot-3, 192-pound receiver might have been drafted higher if not for an arrest following a fight with his girlfriend (misdemeanor domestic violence charges were eventually dropped), as well as his suspension by then-Michigan coach Lloyd Carr during 2007 spring practice.However, Saints assistant coach Terry Malone, a former Michigan assistant, had recruited Arrington to the Wolverines and urged the Saints to take him. Johnson thought Arrington was a better pro prospect than Michigan receiver Mario Manningham, who was selected by the New York Giants late in the third round of the same draft.Soon after joining the Saints, Arrington drew praise for how quickly he learned plays and for his sure hands catching the ball.In the Saints’ 2008 preseason opener, Arrington had two catches for 46 yards, including a 33-yarder, and recovered a teammates’ fumble to sustain an eventual scoring drive. Yet, he came away from the game with a dislocated big left toe. The injury required surgery and sidelined Arrington for his entire rookie season. The good news for him was that the Saints placed him on injured reserve, meaning they had no interest in getting rid of him any time soon.”From what I saw last year in training camp, he would have been one of the guys to line up for us (during the regular season) if he was healthy,” Johnson said, noting that Arrington’s chance likely would have come while Marques Colston and then-Saints receiver David Patten were out with injuries.”I’ve seen him make catches in traffic, catches down field, short catches,” Johnson added. “He has no fear.”Arrington said he used his time off the field last year to study not just the play book, but also game film of other Saints receivers, learning every receiver position.”That’s a big thing that I’ve got going for myself,” Arrington said. “I can play all the positions, so if a guy goes down in a certain position, I think I can come in and fill that spot.”However, he had another setback this summer when he pulled his left hamstring. His participation in the first two weeks of training camp was limited, and he sat out the first preseason game.He began practicing fully again last week and performed well in the Saints’ 38-14 victory over the Texans last Saturday night. He had three catches for 77 yards, with his first two receptions going for 6 and 24 yards. On his third catch, he made a late adjustment on Mark Brunell’s deep pass to let a defender slide by him, then jumped while twisting to face the ball for a long gain to the Houston 2-yard line.What made the play even more impressive to Johnson was that Arrington was roughed up and thrown to the ground by a defender on the previous play.”He has no conscience, so he didn’t feel anything,” Johnson said. “He just got up and made another play.”Arrington knows he needs to show more of that during the next two weeks if he wants to gain the trust of the coaching staff and stick around. He added that while he might be able to bounce back with another club if the Saints cut him, he’d prefer to play in New Orleans’ prolific offense, catching passes from Drew Brees.”I wouldn’t want to be any other place,” Arrington said. “Being a wide receiver, of course I’d want to be in an offense that loves to throw the football. And with Drew, he doesn’t really look at just one guy. He spreads the football out a lot.”————Contact The Daily Reveille’s sports staff at [email protected]