| | By John Clayton
ESPN.com
Jamal Anderson, concert promoter by hobby, knows how to market. This spring, he generously distributed T-shirts to teammates and friends that hyped "Y2J -- The Return is Coming."
|  | | Jamal Anderson hopes to regain the explosiveness he showed in 1998. |
A Japanese camera crew, advancing the Falcons' appearance in next week's America Bowl in Tokyo, listened while he proclaimed his international status to be bigger than Godzilla's.
The son of a security chief who protected such dignitaries as Muhammad Ali and Boyz II Men, Anderson rocks, but he's going to be cautious about getting on a roll. He's
fighting through the emotions and cautions that accompany the year following reconstructive knee surgery. While Anderson's running style is all green, he's wisely proceeding through early training camp with the yellow cautious light on.
"I'm increasing my reps, but I have my good days and my bad days," Anderson said. "There are days when I'm really sore and have to work through it. When I'm having those bad days, I work through the sore (moments) until the knee loosens up. I have to do that because there are times during the season when things are going to be tough."
Fortunately for Anderson, time is on his side. Tendinitis will nag him all season, but he doesn't have to play a game for a month. Falcons coach Dan Reeves informed Anderson on Thursday that the star running back can rest the first three preseason games and
begin to tune up for the season in the final two exhibitions.
"I think he's certainly not full speed yet," Reeves said. "He's gaining confidence in the leg. But I see him making some of the moves he did when he hurt the thing. It doesn't make any sense to play him in the first three games. He'll be get some playing time the last two weeks."
More than anything else, Anderson is trying to regain his explosion. At 235 pounds, Anderson is a big back whose specialty is making a turn like a 185-pounder, gaining momentum and running over anything in front of him. That's coming. During Thursday's practice, he made several nice cuts, but showed his power in flashes.
"We are seeing it in little short bursts," fullback Bob Christian said of Anderson's explosion. "He is feeling his way out on things. He's trying to be smart. I hurt my knee a couple of years ago. There is a fine line between pushing it too hard to a point where you cause inflammation that can set you back."
Running backs constantly deal with pain, but this is different for Anderson. His legs are his meal ticket. So, how much is too much? He's trying to take six to eight
plays in a row to see how the right knee responds. So far, so good.
Afterward, he has his soul-searching sessions with trainers.
"My tendon is sore for some time, but it hasn't gotten to the point where it's fully down," Anderson said. "It hurts. It's interesting. I saw where Big Mac (Mark McGwire) said he may miss the rest of the season with tendinitis. I'm like, wow. My knee is strong and all that good stuff. Trainers ask, 'How does it feel?' I'll say that it still hurts."
Christian, Anderson's blocking mate, fully understands what the tailback is going through. "He's trying to judge himself (to decide) which is the pain you push through and which is the pain you listen to," Christian said.
Reeves, a former running back, added, "I understand part of being a running back is going along and gaining confidence. When you gain confidence, you
can run more and more. Then, you feel some kind of a twinge. All of a sudden, you take one step forward and two steps back. It's a lot easier to get that
one step forward. You try not to take that one step back."
The mind games are important to backs coming off major knee surgery. It has taken Bears running back Curtis Enis two years of experimentation following his 1998 surgery. A 255-pound back, Enis trimmed to 225 pounds and still tried to be a power back. The rest of his body rebelled at the pounding, so he's back to 255 and feeling strong.
The ultimate test will come in the regular season when the game tempo and hitting are real. That's when the adrenaline replaces the anxiety and the competitiveness returns.
"Once I get into a huddle, I'm ready to play," Anderson said.
The Falcons know he's the key to their season. While Anderson rehabbed his reconstructed knee last year, Atlanta's offense broke down. Quarterback Chris Chandler took the team to Super Bowl XXXIII by mastering a play-action passing offense around
Anderson. Without Anderson and without the deep speed of former receiver Tony Martin last season, the Falcons couldn't fly on offense.
"When we lost Jamal and Tony Martin, we weren't talented on offense last year," Chandler said. "On first and second down, we had a lot of run blitzes on us. They were really trying to stop the run. Part of that was because Tony wasn't there to burn them deep. They'd send two linebackers into the running holes and just go for our throats. They knew we were down."
Anderson is lifting the offense back up, along with the addition of speedy Shawn Jefferson at receiver. In a month, Anderson hopes to start distributing the next line of casual clothing, "Y2J -- He's BACK."
John Clayton is ESPN.com's senior NFL writer.
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