Earlier this week on Tuesday, when B.J. Raji was getting ready to leave Green Bay and fly back to his alma mater, Boston College, to continue working out while his contract negotiations continued, his agent delivered an encouraging message.
"He told me specifically, 'B.J., you're not going to be there very long, maybe two or three days so don't get comfortable there,'" Raji said when he spoke to the local media on Friday afternoon. "I kind of laughed but he was right. I'm happy he was right, so this is where I am right now."
Sure enough, Raji was back in Green Bay on Friday morning to sign his contract and begin going through the physical and conditioning test required of all players before taking part in training camp.
Raji passed all his tests, but it's unclear how fully he'll participate when the Packers return to the practice field on Monday afternoon.
Raji said he had been running regularly at a local middle school, and he stepped up the workout pace the past couple of days at Boston College. He considers himself in shape - having not added any weight to his 337-pound frame during the down time - but not necessarily in football shape, and with all his teammates having put in more than a dozen practices plus Saturday night's preseason opener without him, the coaches and training staff will be cautious just how much contact Raji has in the earlygoing.
"It doesn't really do us much good as a team to throw me out there (if) something was to happen my first day being out there," Raji said. "So they are kind of going to work me back into things so when I actually do hit it I am hitting it full speed and I'm looking good."
In the end, Raji's holdout lasted exactly two weeks, as he signed 14 days after players were required to report for camp. As the No. 9 pick overall pick in the first round, he was caught in a tough spot, as one of four consecutive picks (Nos. 8-11) who hadn't signed roughly two weeks in.
General Manager Ted Thompson earlier this week characterized the process as "frustrating" for everybody involved, and that had as much to do with the little progress seen with the draft picks taken around Raji's spot as with the negotiations involving Thompson, Packers vice president of football administration/player finance Russ Ball, and Raji's representatives.
"I kind of realized that it really was no one's fault," Raji said. "It's not like it was Ted or Russ's fault. It wasn't my agency's fault. It's just this draft was a little crazy with that. At one point I believe it was still six top-10 picks not signed. So it wasn't anyone's fault."
Raji's signing did trigger some immediate movement in the market, as No. 8 selection Eugene Monroe and the Jacksonville Jaguars reportedly agreed on a contract Friday.
But for now, Raji would just as soon put all the business stuff behind him and return his focus to football. Projected as the starting left end in the new 3-4 defensive front, Raji will probably get most of his early work at end in training camp. How soon he's able to cross-train at nose tackle, which has been in the coaches' plans, remains to be seen.
{sportsad300}Ideally, he'd like to be able to play in the second preseason game, next Saturday at Lambeau Field against Buffalo, but he acknowledged that decision won't really be up to him.
What he hopes more than anything is to be 100 percent ready for the season opener against Chicago on Sept. 13, and to put himself in position to be the impact player as a rookie the Packers projected when they used the No. 9 overall draft selection on him. He's confident that he won't be hindered in that respect despite missing two weeks of training camp.
"I don't think I hurt any chances (to have a big season)," he said. "I'm an optimistic person. I've still got a little less than a month to get ready for our opening game. Obviously we have some preseason games intertwined within that time period.
"I've got a great deal of respect for our coaching staff. They're going to have me ready. At this point, anything they want me to do, I'm willing to do that. I believe their goal is to try to get me ready to play. To start, that's not up to me, but as far as getting in the mix, I think they'll do a good job of that."
