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Third-year linebacker Scott McKillop is coming off a knee injury that sidelined him for the 2010 season. 49ers.com caught up with the special teams standout for five questions before the start of training camp.**
Q: Coming off a season-ending injury that you suffered early in camp last season, how excited are you to be back with your teammates?
A: It's been a long year off with the injury last year, but I was back in Pittsburgh rehabbing with my old strength coach from Pitt and now I'm just excited about getting back out there and start running around. With the lockout going on, it seemed like it took forever for me to get back with my teammates. But it now it just feels like yesterday we were all out here together. So it definitely brought back some memories being back in the meeting rooms and in the locker room with these guys.
Q: What types of things did you do over the offseason to get ready for camp? Was growing your hair out was one of those activities?
A: Yeah, I guess I had to re-establish my identity. But really, I spent my time working out and spending time with my family and friends. I enjoyed that time with them, but training took up most of my days.
Q: How should fans feel about the shoulder-length hair that you have now? Should they bring out some McKillop wigs for training camp?
A: They can if they want to. I'm actually not cutting my beard for a long time either, so we'll see if I can get that going too. Bret Keisel from the Steelers had a pretty tremendous beard last year, so I aspire to be like that and a little bit like Brian Wilson of the Giants. I might dye my beard blonde instead of black. It just depends on how it turns out.
Q: With the locker room arrangements being switched up, what's it been like being next to Joe Staley so far?
A: It's not bad. I told him I'd have to be the official co-host of "The Joe Show," with our lockers being so close. We definitely have a couple of rules and things we've got to establish before it gets extra awkward. But, it's exciting.
Q: Lastly, now that you begin practice with your teammates, what are your goals for camp?
A: Obviously, there are a lot of doubts about how my knee is doing and with the time off that I've had. But I'm planning on showing the coaches that I'm the exact person that I was before the injury.
