METAIRIE, La. — Unhappy as Marques Colston may be with his performance last season, he has absolutely nothing to prove to his quarterback.

“I feel like I could throw it just about anywhere with him and he has a chance to catch it,” Drew Brees said of the New Orleans Saints’ star receiver. “He’s a phenomenal athlete, certainly a guy I’ve got a lot of confidence in. So there’s a lot of places I can throw the ball and I know it’s giving him a chance — and nobody else.”
Colston, a big target at 6-foot-4, 225 pounds, missed five games last season with a broken thumb. When he returned, he initially wore a brace and had trouble regaining the form of his first two years in the NFL, when he led New Orleans in receiving.
“It’s tough to play in this league when you’re healthy, and then you add an injury into the mix it’s a domino effect,” Colston said. “I missed time with the thumb, then (practice) with Drew and the timing was off.”
At midseason, Colston had five catches for 82 yards. During the final eight games of 2008, he began to re-emerge as one of Brees’ prime targets, catching 42 passes for 678 yards and five touchdowns.
Still, his 760 yards receiving for the season represented a substantial decline from 2006 (1,038 yards) and 2007 (1,202 yards). Then in January, Colston had microfracture surgery to close a small hole in his left kneecap.
He spent the offseason training in Los Angeles at a workout facility owned by Saints tight end Billy Miller, and he worked in some time to train with Brees, who has a home in San Diego.
“This whole offseason has been a chance for me to try and redeem myself for what I feel like was a disappointing season last year,” Colston said, adding that he believes he’s in his best physical shape since entering the NFL.
He has been dominant in training camp, impressing defensive backs who mistakenly think they have him covered.
“Being that he’s big, strong and fast, and he’s got hands that are amazing, even though you’re in perfect coverage sometimes, he’ll pull it in still,” Saints safety Usama Young said. “He’s that possession receiver, that big guy who will go up and get it.”
Colston has the build of a small forward in basketball. He even uses basketball terminology to describe the way he creates space to make catches while being covered by defensive backs whom he usually cannot outrun.
“I’m not a guy that’s really going to separate completely from a defensive back. I kind of like my body being on him, being able to box him out and make a play,” Colston said. “It’s all about body position and using the tools I was blessed with — my size and my ability to jump. If I get my body in the right position, I give myself a better chance to come down with the ball.”
Incidentally, Colston sees himself as a “pretty good” recreational basketball player — which is backed up by Brees — though he never played for his high school or college team.
His exceptional jumping ability was on display during a practice earlier this month, when he soared over converging defenders to grab a pass Brees threw at about the height of a goal post crossbar. The catch, coming as the clock hit zero to end a 2-minute drill, was spectacular enough to set off a jubilant celebration by the Saints’ offense.
Of course, Colston’s height makes him a natural to pull down high throws. Yet the lanky receiver also has shown an ability to contort himself to grab passes thrown low or behind him.
“He has great body control,” Brees said. “If he’s one-on-one, there aren’t many times where I’m not going to throw him the ball.”
Meanwhile, Colston has sought to become more of a difference-maker even when he’s not getting the ball. Improving his run blocking was among his priorities this season, he said, and he took particular pride in making a key block that helped spring Mike Bell for a 46-yard touchdown run during last weekend’s preseason game at Houston.
If Colston struggles with anything as a pro, it’s all the attention he gets as the star receiver on an offense that has ranked among the NFL’s most prolific the past three seasons.
He wasn’t heavily recruited out of high school, when he weighed only 180 pounds. He played at Hofstra and was one of the last picks of the 2006 draft, meaning he wasn’t even a lock to make the Saints’ regular-season roster as a rookie.
Even as his importance to the Saints skyrocketed, he largely avoided appearing in commercials or doing anything to draw attention to himself or capitalize on his growing fame.
He doesn’t celebrate after touchdowns and does not possess the type of voice or laugh that stands out above locker room chatter, though he does smile often and has no trouble making small talk.
“It still is an adjustment for me, because if I had it my way, I’d still be producing the way I am, but be low-profile,” Colston said. “That’s just the kind of person I am.”
Colston will make exceptions for public service announcements, though, including one running on local radio now in which he encourages fans to give blood.
“I feel like, for whatever reason, people will listen if I speak. So if I do anything, I try to make sure it’s positive,” Colston said. “I do enjoy helping people.”