FOXBORO -- Nearly every day for the past month, Mike Cloud would leave his home in East Greenwich, head up Route 95 and feel the pull toward Gillette Stadium as he passed Route 495.
Thanks to an NFL suspension for steroid use, Cloud was forbidden to take the exit. Instead he kept driving north and spent his days working out with a personal trainer in Wellesely, Mass., preparing for his chance to show the New England Patriots that he can be a difference maker sometime this season.
Yesterday was different. With his one-month suspension over, Cloud turned onto the 495 exit, headed toward Gillette and walked into the Pats' locker room.
"I was the first guy in here," the former Portsmouth High All-Stater said. "I was very anxious, like a little kid."
Cloud's roster status is quite unique. While the opening month of the season has seen the Patriots lose one player after another to injury, Cloud is a rare addition. Yesterday, the Pats received a one-week roster exemption for Cloud, meaning they don't have to make a decision on whether to add him to their 53-man roster until next week.
Cloud was the picture of confidence yesterday. He says he's fully recovered from a calf injury that short-circuited his training camp and he says his workouts have him prepared to help the Patriots right away. Although the chances of Cloud stepping on the field this Sunday against Tennessee are long, he says "I feel I could contribute this week."
"It's good to have it behind me now and I look forward to the rest of the season and the coming weeks," said Cloud. "I've been fired up for quite a while now to get back in the uniform and help the guys out and get a victory for us."
But Cloud's wishes and reality may be quite different. The Pats may lack a consistent, big-time running back, but how the team can juggle finding practice time for Cloud to show his skills and still prepare for next Sunday's game against the Titans is a mystery. Judging from coach Bill Belichick's reaction to questions yesterday, he clearly isn't counting on much from Cloud.
"I haven't seen him in a month. I don't know what he can do. We'll try to evaluate it and go from there," the coach said.
Cloud hasn't been allowed to step foot in Foxboro for a month, and surgery on his calf in late July limited his training camp work to only a handful of practices.
"What can he do at this point?" asked Belichick. "Through no fault of his own, he really didn't have a chance to show a whole lot in the brief time when he was was here. When you ask me, 'What can he do?' I really don't know. I don't know. I'll have to wait and see. We'll put him into whatever situations we can put him into and evaluate him on that. There's not a whole lot to go on this year."
That Cloud is even in position to make a run at a roster spot is an achievement. When he developed "pressure" in his calf at the opening of training camp, Cloud went into surgery not knowing what the problem was. Doctors discovered the muscle wasn't fully attached to bone, limiting blood flow to the area.
"When I woke up, I found out about the injury and I was pretty shocked," said Cloud. "Initially, I thought I'd be out for the year. After about three days, I realized I could work through it with a lot of rehab."
Cloud's rehab coincided with the month he had to miss for violating the NFL's steroid policy. He tested positive for nandrolone late last season while serving as a backup to Priest Holmes in Kansas City. Cloud said he was taking an over-the-counter protein mix, called Nitro-Tech, that he says put the banned substance in his system. Cloud has said Nitro-Tech was improperly labeled and is in the process of suing the makers of the product.
"Mike was done a major injustice by the makers of that product," said John Feinsod, Cloud's agent. "But now he's in great, great shape. He's going to show them a lot in practice, I can tell you that. I'm superbly confident in Mike's ability to be a starting running back in the NFL."
When Cloud gets a chance to show his ability this week, he realizes the stakes are high. He says he's ready for the challenge.
"Physically and mentally, I think I'm ready to go," he said."If they give me the opportunity this week to go out there and play, I'll make the best of it and help out the team."
