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LeCharles Bentley, the Browns' top free agent signing before the 2006 season, has been rather tight lipped about his patella tendon injury and subsequent staph infection.

He's now offering a lot more details, and we've found out that the injury was both better and worse than thought.

It was worse in that Bentley almost had his leg amputated, and he says he was near death.

"At one point, I was so sick they weren't sure I was going to live through the night,'' Bentley said.

But after four surgeries, things are better than anyone believed. Bentley says he expects to be back on the field for the Browns when they open training camp. And he expects to be in the starting lineup against the Steelers on Sept. 9. It had been believed that Bentley was not only unlikely to play again this season, but he was most likely done as a football player.

If, and that's a big if, Bentley can return to his pre-injury form, he will be one of the better center's in the league. And he would help turn the Browns offensive line into one of the deepest in the NFL, with solid starters are four of the five positions and at least two projected backups who are former NFL starters.