BEREA — At 10:30 Tuesday morning, a half-hour into the Browns’ first minicamp practice, a familiar face joined the festivities.
With biceps bulging from underneath the white No. 57 jersey, he walked slowly toward the corner of the fieldhouse occupied by the offensive linemen, exchanging pleasantries with running back Jerome Harrison and chatting with a ball boy on his way.
Moments later, helmet on, he was in a crouch and working on technique.
LeCharles Bentley is back — nearly two years after going down in a heap on the first contact play of the first full practice of his first training camp with his hometown team.
“I feel great. I feel really blessed,” Bentley said following the morning practice of two-a-days.
Bentley tore his left patellar tendon July 27, 2006. He suffered a severe staph infection — “It was life-threatening,” he said — and needed three more surgeries. He tried to return last October, but couldn’t pass the team physical.
After more training in Arizona, Bentley was back in the fieldhouse Monday afternoon under the watchful eyes of general manager Phil Savage and team trainers. He got the thumbs-up during a series of timed 40-yard dashes.
“It was never an issue of me not passing,” said Bentley, who was upset the team didn’t clear him last year but spent the interim working on his running mechanics and admitted he feels much better.
“We have to give him a lot of credit for the amount of work and effort he has put into this,” Savage said. “It was obvious that he has been working and he was prepared for the test, which was quite a bit different than last fall. He has made a lot of progress.”
Bentley wore a brace on the left knee Tuesday and was limited to a few individual drills in the morning. The team is taking a conservative approach, keeping him to one practice a day.
“We will try to manage him, see exactly what he can do, what he can handle and take it step by step,” coach Romeo Crennel said.
Bentley, who looked strong and fit, is anxious to get started.
“I’m as good as I’m going to get,” he said when asked if he was 100 percent. “I’m going to end up being a better player behind all this. I feel much better, I feel much stronger, I feel much more explosive than I’ve ever been.
“As far as my playing ability, I’m not worried about that at all.”
Bentley has played center and guard in the NFL. He said he’d prefer to play center but would do whatever is best for the team.
And if there’s not a spot or the Browns don’t want him, he’s fine leaving his hometown.
“Be it here, be it somewhere else, I’m just looking for the opportunity to show what I can do at an extremely high level,” he said. “There is no doubt in my mind. Absolutely, I will be playing somewhere, starting in 2008.”
Bentley was a Pro Bowl center for the New Orleans Saints before signing a six-year, $36 million deal, with $12.5 million guaranteed, with the Browns in March 2006. A native Clevelander, he attended St. Ignatius High School and Ohio State and couldn’t wait to wear the orange helmet of the Browns.
A lot has changed since that July day when Bentley left the field in the back of a golf cart. The Browns have gone from cellar-dweller to playoff contender, Hank Fraley has become a captain at center and the relationship between Bentley and the organization has been strained.
His career was jeopardized, he rehabbed apart from the club and his contract was shortened to expire after 2008. He will reportedly make the league minimum ($605,000) but has incentives that could push the deal to $4 million.
“Being a Brown is always going to be special to me,” he said. “I don’t want people to misconstrue what I’m saying. I grew up here, I’ve been a die-hard fan my entire life. That will never change.
“But if there’s one thing I’ve realized throughout these last two years of this experience, I realize there’s a business aspect of this. When I got here, it wasn’t a business decision to come to Cleveland, it was an emotional decision. My heart is always going to be here. But sometimes business people have to make business decisions.”
Savage signed Bentley to the big deal, then faced the challenge of replacing him with depth across the interior line. The Browns have Fraley, Eric Steinbach, Ryan Tucker, Rex Hadnot, Seth McKinney and Lennie Friedman at guard and center.
Savage said he hopes Bentley makes it back, but the team will move on if he can’t. He also said the Browns were cautious throughout their physical evaluations.
“We never want to put a player out there that is in a compromised position that could fall into somebody else,” Savage said. “This was not any type of personal vendetta against LeCharles, it is just the protocol that is in place.”
Bentley wasn’t overly emotional Tuesday, but clearly grateful to be back on the practice field after such an ordeal.
“I went from not expecting to have a leg, not expecting to live,” Bentley said. “You’re not even thinking about football. Then I go from that to, ‘You’re never going to play again. You’ll be lucky to walk normal.’ Now you’re looking at quality of life.
“I stayed steadfast in my faith. It was really a test. There were so many times I wanted to quit, but I just couldn’t quit. The rest of my time is not dedicated to myself. I’m trying to show people that this can be done, anything can be done. You pray, you work, you stay steadfast in your faith, anything can happen.”
Bentley has some catching up to do in the classroom as well as on the field. He went to meetings during training camp last year, but has been away from the team for most of the time since. So offensive line coach Steve Marshall worked closely with him during his time in drills.
It’s all part of Bentley trying to fit back in.
“I wasn’t here long enough to really get too acquainted with anyone,” he said. “So I still feel like I’m the new guy on the block.”
The old guys were glad to see him.
“He’s working hard and looks like he’s in great shape,” Fraley said. “Before his injuries, he was a great player. I think he still has that mentality and you’re going to see something special out of him, because he’s going to keep working hard until he gets there.
“He’s got the heart of a champion.”
Contact Scott Petrak at 329-7253 or spetrak@chroniclet.com.
 

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