Linebacker

UCLA  linebacker Jordan Zumwalt will play against California on Saturday, Bruins Coach Jim Mora said. Zumwalt suffered a deep gash over his left eye in an motor scooter accident Sept. 23 and missed last Saturday's game at Colorado. He was in drills Wednesday, but was wearing a red no-contact jersey. “He was wearing his helmet today, but we were trying to keep his head out of things,” Mora said. “Tomorrow he should be at full speed.” Zumwalt has been an impact player at outside linebacker.

Former Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher is in search of a team. And the Minnesota Vikings are said to be in need of a starter at his position. So, naturally, there has been plenty of speculation that Urlacher would end up wearing the purple and gold -- even though the Vikings are NFC North rivals of his former team. On Tuesday the Chicago Sun-Times quoted a source close to Urlacher as saying that the eight-time Pro Bowler was "leaning toward heading to Minnesota and is talking a one to two year contract” with the Vikings.

UCLA outside linebacker Jordan Zumwalt was involved in an accident while riding his scooter on Sunday, according to a person close to the situation who was not authorized to speak on the matter. Zumwalt was on his way back to his apartment when he was hit by a car in Westwood. He was taken to the hospital and treated for minor injuries. He was released that evening. Zumwalt was not at practice on Tuesday, but he is expected to play against Colorado on Saturday. He is tied for fifth on the team with 16 tackles and is third in tackles for a loss with three.

San Diego Chargers outside linebacker Melvin Ingram, the team's first-round draft pick in 2012, suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during organized team activies Tuesday, the team announced . That means Ingram's second season in the NFL will likely be spent recovering from the injury. Ingram started twice and appeared in all 16 games for the Chargers his rookie season, recording 41 tackles, five defensed passes, one sack and a forced fumble.   Ingram was expected to start for the Chargers this season.

The biggest shocker of the first round -- and probably of the NFL draft -- came when Seattle used the 15th pick on West Virginia linebacker Bruce Irvin, a player who almost nobody projected would go in the opening round. Irvin, who played two years at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut before transferring to West Virginia, has had several run-ins with the law, most recently an arrest in March for disorderly conduct and destruction of property. Irvin told reporters he was in court earlier this week, where the charges were dismissed.

UCLA linebacker Jordan Zumwalt said the news "dropped like a bombshell. " Players were stunned, some near tears, when linebacker Patrick Larimore told them Sunday night that he was retiring because of repeated concussions. Larimore, a team captain and most valuable player of the UCLA defense in 2011, suffered a concussion during spring practice and another two days into training camp, before the Bruins were even in full pads. After he was reexamined Sunday evening, he decided to give up the game he loves.

No. 9 Carolina Panthers: ILB Luke Kuechly, Boston College - - Kuechly (pronounced  KEEK-lee) led the nation in tackles in each of the past two seasons, with a career-high 191 last year alone. He finished his Boston College career as the leading tackler in both school and Atlantic Coast Conference history (532 tackles). Comment: The Panthers lost Jon Beason and Thomas Davis for the season in Week 1 last season. Kuechly is phenomenal in pass coverage and never has to come off the field.

A defense often adopts the personality of its coordinator. But what is going on at UCLA is body-snatcher-like eerie. Go to Lou Spanos, the guy with the square-jaw look and haircut to match, and ask what he learned from the Bruins' 2011 game tapes. Go ahead, make his day. "Our focus is on the 2012 Bruins' defense," the first-year defensive coordinator said with a smirk. Walk over to newly minted inside linebacker Damien Holmes to inquire what lessons defensive players learned from 2011.

Clay Matthews' star power has captured the attention of both the NFL fan base and offensive coordinators, who've spent this season seeking to double-team the third-year Green Bay Packers linebacker from USC. Matthews' sack and tackle numbers are down from last season, when he contributed 13.5 sacks and nearly four tackles a game for the Super Bowl champions. After Sunday's 46-16 victory over the Oakland Raiders, Matthews has six sacks and 38 tackles. As the calendar turned to December in a big game last week, Matthews began asserting himself at critical times, intercepting a pass by New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning and returning it for a touchdown, recording a sack and forcing a fumble.

It wouldn't be spring practice without a little on-the-job training. UCLA's Taylor Lagace and Nate Iese have been moved to new positions. Lagace came to UCLA as a safety but has been shifted to linebacker. Iese arrived as a linebacker and is now a defensive end. "You recruit these kids when they are 16, 17 years old and they change a little bit," UCLA Coach Jim Mora said. "Some of these guys, they are such great athletes we start thinking, 'We have to get this guy on the field.'" At 6 feet, 201 pounds, Lagace is small for a linebacker, but UCLA expects he will literally and figuratively grow into the position.

The Green Bay Packers locked up star linebacker Clay Matthews with a long-term extension Wednesday as the team took care of one of its top two stars in need of new deals. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers is also in negotiations for an extension. Matthews posted a picture of himself on Twitter signing the deal, saying, "Trivial amongst the recent tragic news, but happy to continue my career in Green Bay!" The Packers did not announce terms of the extension, but NFL.com's Albert Breer reported the deal as a five-year extension worth $66 million.

It wouldn't be spring practice without a little on-the-job training. UCLA's Taylor Lagace and Nate Iese have been moved to new positions. Lagace came to UCLA as a safety but has been shifted to linebacker. Iese arrived as a linebacker and is now a defensive end. "You recruit these kids when they are 16, 17 years old and they change a little bit," UCLA Coach Jim Mora said. "Some of these guys, they are such great athletes we start thinking, 'We have to get this guy on the field.'" At 6 feet, 201 pounds, Lagace is small for a linebacker, but UCLA expects he will literally and figuratively grow into the position.

Devon Kennard found his niche. The fifth-year senior came to USC as a defensive end, started at outside linebacker near the end of his freshman season, played middle linebacker as a sophomore and was a defensive end in 2011. Kennard redshirted last season because of a chest muscle injury suffered on the eve of training camp. This spring, the 6-foot-3, 260-pound Kennard has appeared perfectly cast as an end-linebacker hybrid in a scheme installed by new defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast.

Jack Pardee, an All-Pro NFL linebacker whose career with the Los Angeles Rams was interrupted in the mid-1960s when he battled malignant melanoma before returning to the field and becoming a well-traveled coach, has died. He was 76. Pardee, who was found to have gallbladder cancer in November, died Monday in Denver, said David Bassity, a spokesman for the University of Houston, where Pardee coached in the 1980s. After 13 seasons with the Rams, Pardee finished his playing career with the Washington Redskins and then began his coaching odyssey.

Free-agent safety Ed Reed is on the verge of signing with the Houston Texans, according to the NFL network. “I'm signing with Houston unless something changes,” Reed told the network. Reed has played for the Baltimore Ravens for 11 seasons and is the franchise leader in interceptions with 61. He helped lead them to last season's Super Bowl title. Last week, Reed flew to Houston aboard owner Bob McNair's private jet and Reed spent two days meeting with coaches and management, but left town without agreeing to a deal.

James Harrison's snarling tenacity made the Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker one of the NFL's most intimidating players for nearly a decade. Big hits - some legal, some not so much - also turned the outspoken five-time Pro Bowler into focal point for a league-wide crackdown on helmet-to-helmet contact. Harrison's outlaw image made him beloved in Pittsburgh but reviled elsewhere. His onerous contract, however, no longer worked for a team with serious salary cap issues. The Steelers released the former defensive player of the year on Saturday when the two sides could not agree on a more cap-friendly deal.

If quarterbacks, running backs and receivers who have been jolted by a tackle from Anaheim Servite middle linebacker Butch Pauu could see him in shorts holding a tennis racket, perhaps they'd feel a little better knowing their antagonist wasn't so tough after all. He's not so tough on a tennis court, but when the pads go on, Pauu becomes a 5-foot-11, 218-pound dynamo who always seems to be in the right spot at the right time. He has not missed a game the last two seasons, when, by no coincidence, Servite has won consecutive Pac-5 Division championships.

The football coaches at Lancaster High were poring over game film recently when they discovered something they'd never seen: Donald Forshee, their senior linebacker, showing emotion. It wasn't exactly a break dance in the end zone, but for a guy who would make Lurch of the Addams Family appear charismatic, it might as well have been. After a game-ending tackle against defending Golden League champion Palmdale, Forshee pumped his fist in the air. The coaches rewound the tape and played it again.

INDIANAPOLIS - Manti Te'o completed his most grueling drill of the NFL scouting combine Saturday and, though his heart rate might have been up, he didn't appear to break a sweat. Facing a sea of reporters for the first time since news broke of the fake-dead-girlfriend hoax, the former Notre Dame linebacker stood at the lectern and answered questions for 14 minutes, showing poise, humility and remorse about his involvement - even though his level of participation in the ruse remains unclear.

Four members of Alabama's national championship football team were arrested on campus Monday on suspicion of robbing two students on campus. Defensive back Eddie Williams and linebacker Tyler Hayes are accused of attacking a student, punching him in the face and knocking him unconscious. They then stole the victim's backpack and laptop computer, campus police said. Later, Williams and running back Brent Calloway robbed a second person, punching him in the face and stealing the victim's wallet, while defensive lineman D.J. Pettway watched, campus police said.