Injured linebacker Nick Barnett is doing whatever it takes to keep himself busy and engaged with the defense's transition to the new 3-4 scheme. Often during team (11-on-11) periods, he can be seen in the middle of the field, 40 to 50 yards behind the defense, reading the play script and going through the motions of some of the reads and reactions.
Off the field, he's taking the elementary school approach - using flash cards.
"Me and my wife do a little quizzing and stuff," Barnett said. "I'm getting it, but it's definitely a lot. I don't think anyone in here has this defense 100 percent down, because there's so much, the quantity of it. It's high quantity, but also it's very high quality, so we've just got to learn it."
Barnett has had enough of the learning on paper, though. He's definitely anxious to return to the field for the first time since tearing the ACL in his knee last November at Minnesota. He said he woke up Tuesday morning "in a bad funk" because he was coming to the stadium unable to practice once again.
If it were up to him, he'd be back by now, but the medical staff hasn't cleared him, which isn't all that unexpected less than nine months removed from reconstructive surgery. He hasn't been told when he's going to be able to test his knee again, which would be the first step toward getting medical clearance to play.
"I trust they're going to make the best judgment when the time is right, but it's hard," he said. "I want to be out there but I'm not going to rush it if doc says it's not the right thing."
In the meantime, fellow inside linebackers Brandon Chillar and Desmond Bishop have enjoyed productive starts to training camp. Chillar has taken Barnett's snaps with the No. 1 defense at the "Mack" linebacker spot in the 3-4, while Bishop is a potential sub at both the "Mack" and "Buck" spots.
Barnett was asked if he gets nervous when he hears the coaching staff praising the players who are out there in his place, but the seven-year veteran insisted that's the least of his concerns.
"Am I worried about losing my position? No, no, no," he said. "I'm not worried about anything. I'm worried about what Nick Barnett is going to do when I get on the field, how I'm going to help this team. I know what I can do. I've been here, I've been playing, I know I'm going to put everything out on that field and that's what they want.
"I'm happy they're doing a good job, because that lets me know if I ever go down or anybody ever goes down, we have depth and we won't have a season like last year."