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LeCharles Bentley cleared to practice with Cleveland Browns
Posted by Mary Kay Cabot June 10, 2008 10:21AM
Updated: 10:21 a.m.


PD file photo
LeCharles Bentley, shown in a 2007 photo, will be back practicing with the Browns today.Browns center LeCharles Bentley has been cleared by the Browns to practice in minicamp, which runs today through Thursday, general manager Phil Savage said this morning.

"It's been a long hard road back for LeCharles,'' said Savage.

Savage said the Browns were excited about Bentley's performance in his physical Monday night, especially the running drills, which included the 40-yard dash.

"It's obvious how hard he's worked,'' said Savage.

The clearance came almost two years after Bentley went down on the first day of contact drills in 2006 with a torn patella tendon. After surgery to repair the tendon, Bentley tore it slightly again and then suffered a staph infection in the left knee that required three more surgeries.

The St. Ignatius and Ohio State product hopes to finally play for his hometown team this year, but Savage said he'll have to find his role on the offensive line and meet the expectations set by coach Romeo Crennel.

Bentley is a natural center, but can also play guard. He showed up for practice yesterday morning with a brace on the knee, but in good spirits.

In other Browns news, Kellen Winslow (knee) was at practice but might be limited to individual drills. Safety Gary Baxter (knee) will participate in individual drills. Receiver Donte Stallworth and cornerback Brandon McDonald were absent because of deaths in their families.

Cleveland.com will continue to post updates all day on Bentley and other Browns news as it happens.

Hope he has fun, no matter how he plays.

Ref's I know the other thread is going to fill up vera quickly..so thats why I started a fresh one so only the Bentley responses will come in.

thank god hope he makes it back to as close as he can to his former self....id love to have him at RG

I guess I will post this here....

http://www.clevelandbrowns.com/article.php?id=8504

Bentley cleared, in uniform
Zac Jackson, Staff Writer
06.10.2008
It took all of about two minutes for news to come out of the start of Browns minicamp Tuesday morning.

LeCharles Bentley was in uniform, and Browns General Manager Phil Savage said Bentley was medically cleared by the team on Monday night, then passed the running test that all players must pass before they participate in on-field practice work.

Just how much work Bentley will be able to do on the field over the next three days remains to be seen, but his presence alone is seen by many as a remarkable step. Bentley signed with the Browns in March 2006 but suffered a torn patellar tendon during the Browns' first training camp practice four months later and hasn't been able to play since.

"It's been a long road back," Savage said. "I can't say to what extent he'll be working or what he'll be able to do, but you have to give him a lot of credit for working to get to this point.

"Obviously he's made tremendous strides to even be here. He really wants to do this. You tip your hat to him for all the work he's put in trying to get back on the field."

Savage said Kellen Winslow is in the building and is expected to participate on a "limited" basis, as is Gary Baxter. Both were stretching with the team at the beginning of practice.

Steve Heiden was also on the field Tuesday morning; he missed most of the team's spring work while recovering from back surgery.

Still rehabbing and out for this week are Joe Jurevicius, Ryan Tucker, Steve Sanders and Justin Sandy. Savage said Donte' Stallworth and Brandon McDonald have been excused due to deaths in their families.

Lennie Friedman's wife gave birth yesterday, but Friedman was on the practice field Tuesday morning. Stay tuned for more throughout the day including raw video, press conferences and stories.

The Browns will practice twice Tuesday, twice Wednesday and once Thursday before being dismissed for the summer. Training camp is tentatively set to begin in late July.

Wow this is great news. I hope he can contribute and make the team.

Great news, hope all goes well for him.

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Lennie Friedman's wife gave birth yesterday, but Friedman was on the practice field Tuesday morning.

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Thats committment....

And why not....He's only need for the first part of child birth,

I just hope he can come back and really add something to this team. If he can get back to his pro bowl self and excel, that's great. If he serves as an adequate starter or above-average backup, that's great, too.

If nothing else, it's a great feel good story, and it's great to have a guy like that in the locker room.

Good for LCB!!!! For some reason there seems to be quite a bit of tension between the Browns and LCB. At least it seems that way from a fan's perspective. Hopefully he will be a man on a mission and contribute to the teams success in 2008.

I love to cheer for the hometown boys.

As for Bentley, Great news, been a long road back for him,


For me I'm taking his return one step at a time, lets see if he can get to training camp, than thru the first week, second & so on. I'm not getting my hope even to the level mark, lets go slow and hope for the best,

Wonderful News... Just wonderful,, Hope he can perform at his former level,,, That would a great boost to an already good situation.

I'm waiting for Grossi to come out and say that the reason Bentley hasn't been back these past 2 years is really because of his contract situation.

WOW I hope he makes on the starting line day one

Way to go LCB. My hats off to you. Great comeback. Tell Baxter it can be done.

Holy Crap! I'm so happy for him that I actually got a little teary-eyed reading this.

This is soooo freaking awesome!
WOOT! TCB LCB!

Absolutely awesome!

This is also why I don't quite want to give up on Gary Baxter just yet.

Yeah they play different positions, but Baxter didn't have the staph issues Bentley did...I'm keeping the faith that he'll be ready to go come late August/September.

Wooohooo!!

This is great, i have a feeling he'll make the team. He may may be rusty, but I think even with his rust he'll beat out some of the other guys. Maybe not make it to a starting role yet, but he's going to provide some amazing depth at oline. I would hazard a guess and say that with Bentley coming back, we have one of the deepest and most talent Olines in football.

Good for him and good news for us.

Now we will find out just how good he can be.

The fact that Bentley has made it back on to the field is Great....I hope that this Feel Good story continues and that LeCharles at the very least can realize his dream and play for the Browns....

Just imagine if he can really kick butt in camp and truly earn a starting spot on the line. Imagine the roar of the crowd when they announce his name on Opening Day against Dallas.

Awesome news! I can't wait to see him out there working at training camp this July. The interior of our OL could be scary good if LCB can get anywhere near to being his old self on the field.

Welcome back and good luck LCB!

I keep thinking of depth on the Oline now..

Even if he's not ready to start, we could have a pro bowler backing up at center and both guard spots,,, How amazing is that

Now if Fraley, Stieny or Tuck or Hadnot or Mckinney go down,, look at who we can put in! WOW.. Tell me that that thought doesn't give you a warm fuzzy feeling!

And, quite frankly, we were EXTREMELY lucky last year from an injury standpoint on our OL (knock on wood). It is very likely we'll need depth this year, just like any other team. Hopefully Bentley can provide that, and if he beats guys out for the starting role, we know those guys are very able as well.

This is the news I've been waiting for for a long long time! Welcome back LCB! Great news and here's hoping for a great year!!

Great news travels fast!!!

Here's the ESPN article:

ESPN Page

BEREA, Ohio -- The Cleveland Browns announced Tuesday that former Pro Bowl center LeCharles Bentley has passed his physical and will rejoin the team.



Bentley

The move has been two years in the making for the Browns, who signed Bentley to a six-year, $36 million contract in 2006 to anchor their offensive line. But two major surgeries in the past two years have kept him off the field.


Bentley rejoining the Browns is a solid first step to a potential recovery. In addition to Bentley's physical, he also passed the team's conditioning test Monday night, which all players are required to do.

"He's made a lot of progress," Browns general manager Phil Savage said. "He wants to give it a go. We're willing to do that and we want to do that for him."

Bentley was regarded as one of the top centers in the league before his injury. He was expected to anchor Cleveland's offensive line long term but hard luck followed.

Bentley suffered a torn patellar tendon in his left knee while blocking former teammate Ted Washington during the first day of training camp in 2006. After season-ending surgery, Bentley came down with a staph infection that required another surgery and he was never able to find his way back to the field.

This offseason the Browns restructured Bentley's contract to a one-year deal to provide one last chance for the Cleveland native to play for his hometown team. Savage said the team will be cautious in evaluating Bentley's progress this summer.

"To what extent he can practice, I can't tell you that right now," Savage said. "We're going to try to monitor and help him through the rehab. Obviously this has been a long road back and we have to give him a lot of credit for the amount of work and effort he put into this."

I'm cautiously optimistic..I'm glad he's gotten this far..but they will be extremely cautious as to how much they put him through this early..and remember it's usually the second year from a knee injury that a player returns to form..if he actually can.

Nope, I have to wait until he gets home. I was supposed to go in today, but when the schedule came out we chose to push it back a week. ( 6/17 ) I am due on Sunday, so hopefully the baby will at least wait until after Thursday. Hank was told he could miss this camp to have the baby, no problem. We both decided the baby could wait, and he should be at work if possible. Its not really fun chasing after a 3.5 and a 1.5 year old this pregnant by myself, but only a few more days!


Hope everyone is well and looking forward to the season! I know we are!

Good news about LCB

Danielle.. Best wishes and have fun chasing 3 of them!

Great to hear from you Danielle! Best of luck and keep us posted on the baby!

Good luck with everything, Danielle! Keep us posted.

Wow - great news on LCB!!! If he can be a part of this team again it would be sweet. Congrats on your recovery so far LeCharles.

Great to see you back Danielle. I bet you are exhausted right about now - I hope you have some help there. Keep us posted on the new baby!

Or she can just have Hank come on here and tell us... We wouldn't mind, Danielle. Nice to hear from you again.

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It does it he has anything left.

If he now plays like Jim Bundren, that warm feeling you are talking about becomes a cold shiver.

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Yes, that goes without saying. If he's capable, we have warm fuzzies,, if not, it's still NOT the end of the world. Even without bentley, we still have some decent depth.

So while it may not be the Warm Fuzzies, it really isn't cold shivers..

Besides, if all he can do is play like Bundren, he won't make the team..