Chiefs CB Brandon Flowers played much of the 2009 season with a bum shoulder. It caused him to have surgery in the offseason to correct the problem.
If you saw him play, it was probably pretty hard to tell his shoulder was hurt.
He told reporters today that is shoulder's "doing fine" and it's already 100%. He also said just because he is coming off of that injury, it won't cause him to change his game.
"I'm just going out there like I never hurt my shoulder," he said. To be safe though he said new strength and conditioning coach Mike Clark will work with him to strengthen up some muscles to "make sure it'll be less of a probability that I'll hurt (it) again."
He also said he's looking forward to playing under Romeo Crennel. While playbooks haven't been handed out yet, a "3-4 is a 3-4" he says.
Frankly, I don't think his injured shoulder matters a whole lot. He played at a very high level last year despite the injury and I suspect, heading into his third year, that will continue.
He's also beginning to step into a leadership role on the team. You could tell in his press conference that he was serious about not letting his teammates see him weak last year with the injury.
"I think it would have been selfish for me to just sit down and just say you guys can finish the last two games just because I want to rest and make sure I'm alright," he told reporters. "I just wanted to go out there, put my blood, sweat and tears into it with my brothers that I ground it out with during the off-season."
2010 should be a big year for Flowers. He felt he left a lot of interceptions out on the field last season and is looking to correct that moving forward.