JACKSON, Miss. — The sun barely up and over the horizon, Mike McKenzie rolls over in bed and likely wants to hit the snooze button.

But he can’t and he won’t.

Photo by Bradley Handwerger / WWL-TV.com

Mike McKenzie said he should be ready by Sept. 7, the first game of the 2008 season for the Saints.

Instead, the Saints cornerback gets up and begins his day, rehabilitating his right knee from a January surgery that repaired his anterior cruciate ligament.

“6:30 a.m. is late for me,” McKenzie said. “That’s somewhat sleeping in. I’m taking it. Every moment is very vital.”

Vital, especially when you’re trying to get back to playing shape by the season opener, which for New Orleans, falls on Sept. 7 at home against division-rival Tampa Bay.

“I’m expecting to be better than I was last year,” McKenzie said. “For me, it’s just a matter of continuing to build my strength and endurance. I know how to play the game.”

That he does.

McKenzie was one of the few bright spots in a secondary that was otherwise plagued with breakdowns and coverage busts. New Orleans ranked 30th in pass defense during the 2007 season.

He started 15 games before getting injured in the penultimate game of the year, a 38-23 home loss to Philadelphia. McKenzie landed awkwardly trying to fall on a loose ball on the second play of the game, tearing up his knee and ending his season.

The 10-year professional finished with three interceptions and 17 passes defended. His 63 tackles were good enough for seventh on the team despite missing the last game and a half.

Nevertheless, he has never had such a serious injury, one that has forced him into more than seven months of intense rehab. Still, he’s ahead of schedule.

“I’d much rather prefer be out there playing,” McKenzie said. “The truth of the matter is, compared to what I’m doing, I would much rather be doing football-related stuff and getting the edge of competing with my teammates.”

Already, less than a month before that first game, McKenzie is working with the team. Though he didn’t travel with the Saints to Arizona for the preseason exhibition opener, he participated in Sunday’s full-contact practice.

“I don’t know if he made any tackles, but he was in the drills,” New Orleans head coach Sean Payton said. “He’s getting there.”

The team is taking it slow in pushing McKenzie back into the game.

He hasn’t worked out more than two practices in a row since camp started at Millsaps College on July 24.

“I pick times when I let them know I want to do more,” McKenzie said. You always want to know exactly where you’re at so you don’t do too much.”

Yet, it’s not like he’s sitting on the sidelines watching his teammates go through drills. He’s working out as much, if not more, than most of the other players.

“You have to do twice as much to really try to get your body back to a point of getting to an even keel,” McKenzie said. “Even when you get back, you’re still not back to an even keel.

“Each day, you have to find a way to get it back to a point where it’s at least stable enough to come back and you feel comfortable.”

That’s where the 6:30 a.m. wakeup calls come into play.

That’s much earlier than most of his fellow Saints rise.

“Practice is at 8:50,” he said. “However long it takes you to eat breakfast and get down here. Some guys wake up at 8:20, get a breakfast by 8:30.

“Right there is a two-hour difference in just coming down and throwing on your pads in reference to a guy who needs to come in and get a rehab session in and workout and all that extra stuff.”

And so, with four weeks to go before the first game, McKenzie feels he’s progressing at the right pace. For New Orleans, that’s a good thing.

“At this point, I feel real good, feel ready to go,” he said. “It’s just a matter of time at this point.”