Wide receiver John Metchie III is on the field in training camp with the Houston Texans preparing for his first NFL season. That was supposed to happen a year ago.

But Metchie didn’t feel as good as he should have. A second-round selection from Alabama in the 2022 NFL Draft, the wide receiver was preparing for his first training camp, but he knew something wasn’t quite right.

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“I probably thought I had a cold or something for like a week or two,” Metchie said on Thursday. “Headaches and stuff like that. There were a couple of symptoms before. It wasn’t like I just woke up one day and it caught me out of the blue. But leading up to it, I was definitely starting to feel a little ill.”

What had “caught” Metchie was cancer. He missed his rookie season after being diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia in July 2022.

At that time, Metchie couldn’t help but wonder if he would ever play football again – or would even be around to play it.

“I’m not going to sit here and say, ‘No,’” Metchie said about the concerns that can come with a cancer diagnosis. “Of course, at the beginning stages, you don’t know what the future has in store for you. You, of course, hope that you can overcome it and play football. But I would probably say probably in the beginning stages, there might have been some doubt. But I’ve had a strong faith. I had a strong faith then; I have a strong faith now. …

“At the very beginning of it, when you’re first diagnosed is a very tough part, is the most critical part. I think all of that was just my faith. You can only rely on your faith in those situations. In situations where you’re forced to be faced with your own mortality, you see what it is you really believe in and who it is you really believe in. So my faith in God is really what kept me comfortable and a belief that this was all for a greater purpose and a bigger reason.”

Now free of the disease, Metchie is eager to play for the Texans.

“I feel 110 percent, actually,” Metchie said. “I feel better now than I ever did in college, and I feel better than I was before I got diagnosed.”

But Metchie did not leave his illness completely behind. He has the lessons that he learned while he was sick, particularly from other patients who befriended him during the process.

“The biggest thing I took away was just kind of to show up and fight,” Metchie said. “We kind of take for granted life and everything we have to do or everything we get to do during a day. But then when it’s taken away from you, whether you’re young or old in the hospital, people see clearly what’s important to them and who’s important to them – their family, their life. Regardless of what they were complaining about or what stresses you have, you realize that the biggest gift you got is your breath and your heartbeat. And so the biggest thing I took away was regardless of age, size, where you came from, everybody had to wake up and fight every day, so just keeping that and keeping that gratitude in the forefront of your mind for me will always be a good thing.”

Metchie participated in part of the Texans’ offseason program, but he missed the portion that featured the seven-on-seven and 11-on-11 drills in May and June because of a hamstring injury.

“This entire year’s been eventful, for sure,” Metchie said. “It’s had its ups and downs, but being back on the field feels great. It’s been a long way coming, but it definitely feels like a blessing, and it’s something you’re grateful for every day.”

Metchie said he had much to be grateful for, from the type of cancer he had — the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society calls APL “the most curable form of adult leukemia” – to being able to “play the game I love again worry-free.”

“John Metchie’s demeanor, it hasn’t changed,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said on Thursday. “He’s the same. He’s consistent. He’s positive. He’s a hard worker. Whenever he’s out here at practice, he’s giving everything he has. You’ll see him after practice doing extra just trying to perfect his craft, so excited with his mentality and his work ethic. It’s cool to see.”

Metchie said the most challenging part of his illness was something more pragmatic than a spiritual crisis, mental anguish or physical pain. He’s from Canada, and his treatment took place in Texas.

“I think there are a lot of challenging things that challenges you spiritually, mentally, physically,” Metchie said. “I think the most challenging part was just dealing with it with my family being in a different country for the most part. They would come down, but most of my loved ones were in a different country, so I think that was the most challenging part. …

“My teammates here, my coaches here, my old college coaches, coach (Nick) Saban and all of them, all the staff, all the old players – they all reached out and they were always with me every step of the way, so although my family wasn’t here, I had a huge support system from this team and my college team.”

Metchie has rejoined a receiver corps in Houston at a time when the Texans are looking for the right pieces for quarterback C.J. Stroud, the second player picked in the 2023 NFL Draft.

Six-time 1,000-yard receiver Brandin Cooks led Houston with 57 receptions for 699 yards and three touchdowns in 2022, but the Texans traded him to the Dallas Cowboys this offseason. Chris Moore caught 48 passes for 548 yards and two touchdowns last season for Houston, but he joined the Tennessee Titans in free agency.

Houston’s leading returning receiver is former Clay-Chalkville standout Nico Collins. Injuries caused Collins to miss seven games in 2022. In the other 10, he had 37 receptions for 481 yards and two touchdowns.

The Texans signed wide receivers Noah Brown and Robert Woods in free agency. A 1,000-yard receiver for the Los Angeles Rams in 2018 and 2019, Woods had 53 receptions for 527 yards and two touchdowns for the Titans in 2022. Brown is coming off his best pro season after catching 43 passes for 555 yards and three touchdowns for the Cowboys.

Houston also drafted two wide receivers in April — Houston’s Tank Dell, who began his college career at Alabama A&M, in the third round and Iowa State’s Xavier Hutchinson in the sixth round.

Houston is working toward its season-opener against the Baltimore Ravens on Sept. 10.

Before that, the Texans have three preseason games to help sort out their wide-receiver situation. Houston plays the New England Patriots on Aug. 10, Miami Dolphins on Aug. 19 and New Orleans Saints on Aug. 27.

“I feel like I beat the toughest battle,” Metchie said, “and now living and being me is kind of just to be free and be confident in myself and my body of work and who I am. Of course, there’s a learning curve of learning the plays and getting with the team chemistry and all of that. But as far as comfort in myself and my game, I have that completely.”

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.