For training camp, we’re staying at St. Vincent’s College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, about 45 minutes outside of Pittsburgh. We’re staying in the dorm rooms. Some people got rooms to themselves, and everybody else had to share rooms. I share a room with Max Starks. We eat breakfast, lunch and dinners there, in the dining halls.

For the most part, practices in the morning are not full pads, they’re more like the coaching clinics [from summer camp]. It’s usually an hour and a half long. So they’re not that bad. We go through a little bit of special teams, little bit of everything in the morning practice, then go back and eat lunch. Then we have another practice that afternoon, about 3 o’clock, for about two hours. That’s more of a full pads, do-a-little-bit-of-everything practice.

The practice isn’t as hard as college actually, it’s just a lot of mental stuff, trying to learn what you’re doing and things like that. Like right now I definitely have more mental mistakes than I should be doing. Just trying to get used to doing everything, and that’s slowing me down sometimes. With [fellow outside linebacker] Clark Haggans going down, they’re also bringing all the outside linebackers in, like another outside linebacker just came in today from Cincinnati. I just found out about it today when I went in to my meeting. Alonzo Jackson is healthy now. He had strained something in his side or something like that, but he’s back practicing now.

I’ve still been working with the number two unit. I’ve just been trying to stay focused, trying to do what I gotta do.

The big difference between training camp and summer workouts is the contact, and also running special teams; a lot more special teams work now is going on. Another big difference is actually seeing stuff for the first time, like you see it during the OTAs during the summer, but then seeing it at full speed and in full pads when they go through all the run plays, and they throw a lot more play action at you. That mean’s I’ve got to read the run, then react and get out into coverage.

The intensity isn’t different from summer camp to training camp. The coaches always bring a certain intensity to the game, they always pretty much just want you to beat the offense every time you have a chance to beat them. So that mentality doesn’t ever change, really.

I think I’ve got the physical tools to play outside linebacker. I’ll be good enough to get the job done, but right now I’m not. I’m thinking so much at times, and I’ll make the wrong read or do something stupid. I guess right now I’m not really able to show anything physically because I’m thinking so much. I guess once I start really getting the mental part down, then I can start playing [physically] a lot better also.

I still think the big difference between the college players and NFL players is that the NFL guys are more technically sound. There’s a lot better technique than in the college level. Everybody now is like playing against Miami.

Thinking too much is my biggest thing. It’s frustrating, ‘cause I’m not a person who usually makes a lot of mistakes. I’m not used to making a lot of mistakes. Learning a new position and trying to get this stuff down is tough. Just learning a whole different position, you know I’ve never done this stuff before, trying to cover people, all that stuff, it’s just new. And to try to get used to it, especially doing it at full speed and then seeing certain plays on offense for the first time, I’m not reacting fast enough when I should be reacting, and it makes me look bad out there. It makes it look like I’m not going hard. I’m trying to go hard, but I’m just not reacting fast enough.

Physically, I feel fine. I don’t have any injuries, just sore. I’m still kind of sore from my senior season, and I’m just trying to get through all that also, I get in the cool-down tub every day after practice.

What enters my mind during the night is that I can’t lay on certain spots because something will hurt, like my shoulder will hurt so bad, I can’t lay on the left side of my shoulder that night. I just iced it really, I really don’t know what it’s from. Maybe it’s from college, maybe it’s from here, I don’t know. I just try to go out there and give it everything, you know, just try my hardest like the team.

I’m on all of the special teams right now. I’m on 2nd kickoff return, 2nd kickoff, 2nd punt, 2nd punt return. I’m running with the 1st field goal team, and I’m with the number 2 field goal block team.

Our first preseason game is at Detroit this Saturday. If I get to tackle KJ, I’m gonna kill him. I won’t talk to him, because I’m not a talker, but I will try to kill him.