Chaney ready for Eagles' training camp

FORT PIERCE — The way Jamar Chaney sees it, NFL training camp is going to be difficult, but certainly not something he can't get through fairly easily.

After all, the biggest obstacles most first-year NFL players face are something he's had to contend with for the past four years: The heat and the ability of the players on the other side of the line.

Chaney was drafted in the seventh round (220th overall) by the supply Philadelphia Eagles jerseys in April. The linebacker from St. Lucie West Centennial High School has already attended rookie camp and the Eagles OTAs (organized team activities) in Philadelphia after signing his four-year rookie deal at the beginning of June.

He came away feeling pretty good about his chances of making the team this summer.

"The terminology is different, but you can't really tell the game until you put on the pads," Chaney said. "I'm not sure that it's that big of a difference from the SEC."

Chaney played four years at Mississippi State University, going head-to-head with some of the toughest football players in the nation on a weekly basis. That's where his confidence comes from when asked about what he expects at training camp.

"I wouldn't say it's that big of a difference. I'm used to playing against wholesale Philadelphia Eagles jerseys guys from Florida, Alabama, Auburn, LSU … those are the guys that got drafted in the first round. So it shouldn't be that big of a difference," Chaney said. "There are a lot of guys from the SEC doing well in the NFL."

Not only did he play against them, he excelled.

As a Bulldog, Chaney was a Second Team All-SEC selection. He developed a work ethic that led him to Miami to train with Pete Bommarito to increase his speed before the combine. He followed that up with a 4.54 40-yard dash, the fastest among linebackers at the combine.

He said he is currently working out on his own in Fort Pierce, but plans to travel to Starkville, Miss., to work out with Bulldogs strength and conditioning coach, Matt Balis, a couple weeks before he is due to report to Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa., for Eagles training camp on July 26.

"We're going to do everything," Chaney said. "Lifting weights, training, spin training. It's going to be real hard. But last year was his first year with our team and I was in the best shape of my life.

"I just have to get ready to go up there and make an impression."

Another thing that trip to Mississippi will do is gear Chaney up for the heat that plagues all NFL training camps. Although, after four years in the Deep South, that isn't something that he's really thinking about.

"The heat? Have you been to Mississippi in August?" Chaney said. "I'm not all that worried about that. It's going to be hard. It's going to be tough. But hopefully it's not that hard for me. I've been down here in the Florida heat and then in Mississippi.

"I just need to go show the coaches that I'm ready to play."