National Football League

Green Bay's Nate Palmer is intense in his transition to ILB

Published Jun. 9, 2015 11:00 a.m. ET

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Green Bay Packers linebacker Nate Palmer saw his 2014 season end before it began, thanks to a knee injury that put him on injured reserve at the end of the preseason. Now, Palmer's comeback is being compounded by a position switch, according to Weston Hodkiewicz of Press-Gazette Media.

Palmer, a former sixth-round selection, was always an outside linebacker with the Packers, who've made a habit of trying out edge-rushers on the inside. Even though the move is not unprecedented, Palmer was still a little shocked by the shift.

"It was something that happened in practice and they were like, 'Have you ever played inside?' I was like, 'Yeah, early in college,'" Palmer told Press-Gazette Media. "It was in a joking matter and then in the last week it was like, 'Whoa, snap.' There were some subtle hints."

During his physical recovery from a season-ending injury, Palmer has also been tirelessly studying Green Bay's 3-4 defensive scheme and familiarizing himself with the inside linebacker position.

"I knew I missed the whole year, so I knew I had to go above and beyond to even get back to where I was at coming off a seasonlong injury," Palmer told Press-Gazette Media.

In college, before Palmer transferred to Illinois State and became a 4-3 defensive end, Palmer was an inside linebacker at Illinois. He'll try to dig up some of those old skills as he competes for a role in Green Bay's defense this summer.

(h/t PackersNews.com)

Photo Credit: Benny Sieu/USA TODAY Sports