Shea McClellin wins the award for “body transformation” of the 2014 Bears offseason, but there’s another linebacker with a new number who looked a bit different at OTAs and minicamp: Khaseem Greene.
The second-year ‘Will’ linebacker “came into camp a bit heavy” last summer, Phil Emery said during the season. Greene, who measured in at 241 pounds at the Combine, started four games last season in Lance Briggs’ absence. He had 28 tackles, and an interception against Minnesota, but, like fellow rookie Jon Bostic and the rest of the defense, struggled.
Looking to make that “second year leap,” Greene slimmed down in the offseason, working out in Cincinnati with trainer Clif Marshall and NFL players Luke Kuechly, Rey Maualuga and Mohamed Sanu. He also was in Florida with Brandon Marshall and other Bears teammates.
“I think the biggest thing for me was just my nutrition, watching what I put into my body and getting to a weight where I really want to be at and feel real comfortable at, which allowed me to fly around and move a little differently than I did last year,” Greene said as minicamp wrapped up at Halas Hall last week.
Greene has worked as the second-team weak-side linebacker behind Lance Briggs. “I like to play behind Lance,” he said, “He’s taught me a lot, showed me some things.” Greene will also work to solidify his roster spot by participating on special teams.
In addition to getting his nutrition in check, Greene had an on-field trait he focused on during the offseason to improve at linebacker and on the coverage teams.
