Johnny Patrick had nearly given up on football and felt like football had given up on him.

After his NFL career was derailed by concussion issues, Patrick is trying to make a comeback in the CFL with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, two years after he last set foot on a football field.

“I just got cleared by a neurologist a month ago,” Patrick said. “It’s been two years out … no NFL team wanted to touch me.”

Patrick, a 27-year-old defensive back, was named one of NCAA football’s top-100 players in 2011 and was a third-round draft pick of the New Orleans Saints. He played 37 games with Saints and San Diego Chargers, amassing 68 tackles, a forced fumble and an interception that was the highlight of his NFL career. It was against Ryan Tannehill and the Miami Dolphins, and he returned it 30 yards.

“It was big for me and it was something I always said I was going to do,” Patrick said. “Luckily I got a chance to get it before they got me out of there. I’m here now, I’m going to make some new memories.”

Patrick says he has no fear – none due to the potential for further concussions and none due to trying out in a new league, with different rules and field dimensions.

“I’m over it now,” the 5-foot-11, 190-pounder from Leland, Fla., said. “I feel 100%. I don’t feel like I did a year and a half ago when I did take those hits. I’m comfortable now, feeling like myself again and I’m just ready to play football.

“I’m not complaining. I’m here and I’m getting an opportunity. Just to have a team still interested in me is a blessing. I’m taking advantage of it.”

Patrick played a variety of positions in the NFL – he said they called him a hybrid player -- and hopes to do the same with the Bombers. He said he has bounced around to a few spots already in the Blue Bomber rookie camp.

“Johnny Patrick has certainly popped (off the page),” Bombers coach Mike O’Shea said. “Sometimes in that position it just takes time to get used to the motion and that stuff that they just don’t see down there. You’ve got to evaluate their athletic ability and see whether or not they will be a fit in the CFL because they’re all going to get beat in one-on-ones at some point because they’re just not used to this high-waggle motion. It’s always funny to watch these guys because he has been down in the NFL for 37 games and it’s an eye-opener when they face that waggle.”

JUSTIN’S TIME

Linebacker/defensive lineman Justin Cole is back at the Blue Bombers rookie camp, even though he played five games for the team last season and recorded three tackles and two sacks.

He obviously showed enough for the team to invite him back, but he’s still going to be in a dogfight to get reps on a defensive front seven built around sackmaster Jamaal Westerman.

“You always want to have a little continuity as an athlete, know where you are going to be, what you’re going to be doing,” Cole said. “The system’s the same so you just get a chance to hit the ground running physically, you don’t have to worry about that mental hurdle of trying to learn everything new, get in to a new place, new teammates, new people, so I’m just happy to be back.

“I’m a rookie technically, but I’ve got an upper leg and I know what I’m doing because I got some reps last year. I’m going to use that to my advantage, go out there and compete hard and do what the coaches say.”

O’Shea said Cole seems like a good fit for special teams and has some pass-rushing ability.

“He’s a long, lean pass-rushing guy and seems to be able to bend around the corner fairly well,” O’Shea said. “We liked what he did last year. Good guy, he seems to work hard.”

Cole missed six weeks with an injury shortly after he arrived in Winnipeg last year, so this year he’s hoping for good health along with an opportunity.

“I had a good feeling that they said they wanted me back but you’ve still got to put it together every season,” Cole said. “I knew they liked what I put on tape, it’s just a matter of being consistent and healthy this year.

“The good thing is when Jamaal comes back everybody will pay attention to him so hopefully I can get some free sacks.”

SAFETY DANCE

O’Shea was very pleased with the performance of Taylor Loffler, the team’s third-round draft pick this season, who has impressed in both meetings and on the field.

“He showed his range today,” O’Shea said. “He’s a good football player, he’s smart. Sitting in the meetings today listening to him, he knows his stuff very quickly. In the true manner of a safety, he’s vocal, so he’s helping guys out, he’s moving people around. For him having two meetings, he seems to have some veteran presence about him, which I always appreciate. There is just going to be a short learning curve for him to understand what these quarterbacks are capable of in terms of completing passes downfield compared to the quarterbacks he is used to playing against. He had a good day today.”

O’Shea said Loffler will be moved around in training camp but right now is penciled in as a safety.

“It was nice to see him do as well as he did today in my mind,” O’Shea said. “That’s a good feeling, knowing he can play that position.”