Rookie Pryor is shaping up on the defensive line

Myron Pryor is facing the big man’s conundrum: he needs to get into better shape to make sure he stays on the field, but he also needs to make sure he’s big enough to tangle with opposing offensive linemen.

Fortunately for the Louisville native, being able to work himself into shape is easier these days.

A sixth-round pick out of Kentucky, Pryor struggled with asthma throughout his childhood, and as a result, maintaining his fitness level was always difficult. But his days of being tethered to a nebulizer breathing machine are behind him, and recently he was able to kick his inhaler to the curb as well.

Now Pryor just needs to watch his diet – “I’m a big guy, so I like to eat,” he said with a smile on Sunday – and add some extra sessions on the treadmill and he should be ready to play a full game’s worth of snaps in no time.

The 207th overall pick in the draft, Pryor is listed at 6-foot-1, 310 pounds. He was a three-year starter at defensive tackle for the Wildcats, and as a senior, showed up all over the stat sheet: Pryor had 4 ½ sacks, a fumble return for a touchdown, a forced fumble, and also blocked a field goal.

He was one of three defensive linemen drafted by the Patriots in April, behind second-rounder Ron Brace and ahead of seventh-rounder Darryl Richard. They joined a deep and talented unit that has been tough to crack in recent years.

But any chance Pryor had of making an early impression seemed lost when he missed several days of training camp with an undisclosed injury. All told, he wasn’t on the field for about 10 practices, and returned on Aug. 9, five days before New England’s preseason opener in Philadelphia.

The Patriots began that game in a 4-3 alignment, and there at defensive tackle right next to Vince Wilfork was Pryor, his presence with the first-team defense a surprise to many observers.

But Bill Belichick has liked what he’s seen thus far.

“Myron comes from a pretty good defensive background at Kentucky with coach (Rich) Brooks; he’s a pretty good fundamental player,” Belichick said. “He understands leverage and hand placement, he’s a good athlete. He’s having to learn some new things, new responsibilities, different reads, and things like that that we do. He’s picked those up and like every rookie he’s got a long way to go, but he’s coming along…He moves well for that size.”

Pryor admits he was nervous about missing time and that it affected him mentally, but he used that time to gain experience through film work, something every player does when he’s mending. Not every player, however, is able to learn as much from watching others.

Pryor feels he was able to gain an edge spending so many hours in the film room, and knew a lot of the dos and don’ts when he was able to practice.

What he wasn’t able to do, however, was sustain his high motor. After the Eagles game – in which he was credited with a sack on Donovan McNabb – Pryor admitted that he was gassed during the game and had work to do to get into game shape.

All in all, however, his transition thus far to life as a professional football player has been fairly smooth. The oldest of Marilyn Pryor’s three children (sister Carlisa is 16 and brother Carl is 14), Pryor said he calls his agent, Brian Levy, and his mother when he’s feeling overwhelmed.

He believes that keeping in close contact with his family at home in Louisville has helped him.

“My people back at home, they go to church and they always say they pray for me,” he said. “I always keep an open line of (communication) back home because I feel like that’s one of the reasons why I’m doing so good today. Just having that connection back home, because I think if I didn’t, I wouldn’t be standing here.”

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