Greene Returns to His Element

The dark and desperate days are over now for Kevin Greene--at least the dark and desperate Sundays when he had to line up against 300-pound monsters every down and sacrifice life, limb and sack total for the defensive system.

Coach Chuck Knox has decided to move Greene back to left outside linebacker, away from the end spot he held last year, back to the position from which he averaged more than 15 sacks from 1988-90. Last year, as the right-side defensive end, he got three.

“I’m just happy to be in the position I’m in,” Greene said. “Feels good to be back on the left side and playing outside linebacker over the tight end. It definitely feels good to be back in my element.”

There is some difference in Greene’s new spot and the pure rushing linebacker position he played under then-coordinator Fritz Shurmur in past years. Then, he almost never dropped back into coverage in the 3-4 scheme. In Knox’s four down linemen system, Greene at times will have to drop into short zone coverage or cover the tight end.

But he will blitz often, and the coaching staff assures that he will rush the passer on virtually every sure passing situation, possibly from an end position.

Knox seems to be getting more perturbed with the continued unexplained absence of running back Robert Delpino, who missed his second day of the weeklong mini-camp Tuesday. As of Tuesday afternoon, Knox had no idea why. Delpino is the only signed veteran not in attendance.

Meanwhile, cornerback Darryl Henley, who has been attending meetings but has opted not to participate in drills because he is unsigned, underwent an examination of his sore right knee and was determined to have a mild strain.

Knox said he heard from tailback Marcus Dupree, who is missing but does not have a contract. Dupree said he had injured his hamstring while working out on his own in Mississippi.