Frank Zombo is ready to run down quarterbacks again, as he did in Super Bowl XLV, chasing after Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger. Credit: Mike DeSisti

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Green Bay - Frank Zombo feared the absolute worst. Maybe this was a torn ACL. His season could be finished, see you in 2012.

So after suffering a knee injury at the 10:35 mark of the second quarter against the St. Louis Rams, the Green Bay Packers outside linebacker continued playing.

"I didn't know what was going to happen with my knee," Zombo said. "I didn't know if I tore something or whatever. I thought it could be my last game, so I wasn't going to pull myself out.

"I thought I could be done for the season. So I said, 'Whatever, I'm going to play.' "

Instructed to see the doctor afterward, Zombo was "nearly in tears." To his relief, the prognosis was positive. Zombo had hyperextended his knee.

Now, two weeks later, he's back. Again, the second-year player has returned sooner than expected. After missing the Packers' first five games with a broken scapula - a pregame injury he played through an exhibition game with - Zombo is back.

Rushing back

The Packers need him, too. Generating a pass rush has been a struggle. Dom Capers is blitzing more than he ever has as the team's defensive coordinator. A healthy Zombo is the medicine the unit needs, especially with Pro Bowl quarterback Philip Rivers on tap.

Zombo wasn't expected to practice Monday. He did. And now, at full strength, he may play Sunday.

"Frank is one of those guys you have to hold him out of practice. He's definitely a tough guy," coach Mike McCarthy said. "He's had two unfortunate injuries, especially the first one in pregame.

"He's a tough guy and the bye week's really helped him; hopefully he'll be able to go this week."

The undrafted rookie out of Central Michigan had 67 tackles and four sacks in 13 games a year ago. After missing six games with a knee injury, he returned to start in the Super Bowl with six solo tackles and a sack.

Translation, he's accustomed to bouncing back from injuries. Back home in Canton, Mich., during the bye week, Zombo worked out at Dynamic Athlete Performance with personal trainer Chad Smith.

The two didn't put too much stress on the knee. He spent plenty of time on the bike to get his conditioning back.

Zombo knows the drill. He's used to playing through pain. At Central Michigan, this was the norm. His junior year, Zombo played half the season with a torn labrum.

"At Central Michigan, we didn't have a lot of depth," he said. "So no matter if you were hurt or not, you just played. A lot of our guys went through that. So I think that maybe I just carried that into here.

"There was no one behind me. Barely. We didn't have a lot of depth there. So if I was hurt, I was still playing."

Before practice Monday, coaches told Zombo he'd be a "limited participant." They'd let him do individual drills, but no "live" drills, no full-contact work that could put that knee at risk.

Back in action

Then, finally, luck was on Zombo's side. Within an individual drill segment, the linebackers were thrown into one-on-one drills against tight ends and offensive tackles.

On this fundamental-heavy day, the offense worked on different types of blocks. Zombo stayed in. Nobody yanked him out. And against the likes of Jermichael Finley and Bryan Bulaga, he said he "held his own."

"It was a live drill in individuals. So I was like, 'All right, it's individual so I just jumped in there.' For being out as long as I was and coming back in, I felt great."

On Wednesday, Zombo was a full participant. If he is cleared to play Sunday, the Packers may rotate him with Erik Walden opposite Clay Matthews. Through seven games, Walden has one sack and 10 quarterback pressures. He half-expects the platoon to resume.

"Both of us can benefit from it," Walden said. "We'll be fresh and hopefully if one gets in a rhythm, we'll take another series."

Flustering Rivers is essential. On Monday night, Kansas City's Tamba Hali was a one-man battering ram. San Diego left tackle Marcus McNeill had six penalties.

When he's hot, he's hot. Rivers (7 touchdowns, 11 interceptions) has struggled this season but is fresh off three straight 4,000-yard seasons with 92 touchdowns and just 33 picks.

"He's confident in the pocket," Zombo said. "So from an outside linebacker's perspective, we have to try to get as much pressure as we can on them and try to keep him throwing on the move or his back foot."

Above all, Zombo misses that feeling of satisfaction inside the locker room. Each game, he said, Capers shakes every defensive player's hand, including the injured ones.

Zombo hates it. He feels empty, undeserving. The linebacker calls himself a "steak eater and bus rider" this season.

This week, maybe that will change.

"It's been terrible the last seven weeks," Zombo said. "(Capers) comes to shake my hand, and I didn't even do anything to help win the game. I look forward to the end of the game when coaches say, 'Good job' and you actually earned it."