The first surprise was that Jamar Chaney was even practicing. Last we heard from head coach Andy Reid, he hadnt been cleared yet after off-season neck surgery.
The second surprise was that he was practicing with the second team.
Chaney started the last three games of 2010 at middle linebacker, then began last year at strong-side, before moving back to the middle for the third game of the season.
But with rookie second-round draft pick Mychal Kendricks on the strong side, off-season pickup DeMeco Ryans in the middle and Brian Rolle at weak-side linebacker, Chaney found himself Tuesday as the second-team weak outside linebacker when full-team OTAs began on Tuesday.
Ill play with the twos, Rolle goes with the ones, and let the best man win, Chaney said.
Chaney has now switched positions three times since the end of the 2010 season, but he just shrugs it off. No biggie.
I can play all three of the linebacker positions, so its not a problem, he said. If thats where they want me to play thats where Ill play, and Ill do everything I can to be the best at that position.
Thats the nice thing about this. You get to learn all of them and no matter what happens during the season, youll have no excuse if youre asked to move to another position.
"They didnt draft anybody in the second round to not get on the field, but you never know how the season is going to go. One thing all the linebackers are going to do is were going to compete and theyre going to put the best three out there.
If they had me SAM, Id compete with Kendricks. If they had me at MIKE, Id compete with DeMeco. Now me, its me, B-Rolle, Keenan Clayton, and were all going to compete for that spot.
Chaney said he was cleared on Monday to be a full participant in this OTA. He underwent surgery to repair a herniated disc on Jan. 17 after getting hurt in the season finale against the Redskins.
I feel real good, he said. With me having surgery, I had to stay up here the whole time for my rehab, so I worked out with Barry Rubin, strength and conditioning coordinator the whole time, worked out with the trainers, getting my core stronger. So Im probably in better shape than I would be if I went home for a period of time.
E-mail Reuben Frank at rfrank@comcastsportsnet.com.
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