“If they’ll have me back, then I’ll be glad to be back,” said Packers linebacker Mike Neal, shown pursuing Bears quarterback Jay Cutler. Credit: Rick Wood

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Green Bay — The future is uncertain, but Mike Neal is flexible.

After his first four years in the NFL with the Green Bay Packers — three of them as a defensive lineman and the last at outside linebacker — Neal knows not where he will play in 2014. Not which team. Not which position.

Bracing for free agency — and fatherhood — in March, however, Neal isn't concerned. He can only hope to know soon so he can spend the off-season preparing.

A one-time muscle man, Neal set weightlifting records at Purdue, including a 510-pound bench press and a 615-pound squat. But in the summer of 2013 he dropped 30 pounds, partly to aid his game overall and partly to transition to outside linebacker.

If he plays outside linebacker again in 2014, he'd like to get even lower than 275, his weight this season.

"I want to get to 265, 270," said Neal. "If I can lose 30 pounds in one off-season, I can surely lose 10."

Defensive coordinator Dom Capers said the plan last year was to move Neal around from the line to the linebacker positions, and that's partly why Neal is keeping an open mind about where he will play in 2014.

"As the season worked itself out, Clay Matthews played the fewest number of snaps this year that he's played," said Capers. "Mike Neal played more snaps for us at outside linebacker than any other outside linebacker, so those are things you have to respond to as you work your way through the season."

A second year at outside linebacker would also help, said Neal, who had really only played defensive line going back to high school.

"You think about people making transitions, and to make it in as short a period as I did and to be as successful as I was, if I play another year I wouldn't expect anything less than to be great," said Neal.

Neal points to his 47 tackles (36 solo) in 2013 — third most among Packers linebackers — as a promising sign. He also had a pass defensed and an interception; he wanted more than his five sacks.

"I had a lot of success," said Neal. "I didn't have as many sacks as I wanted, but just the last eight games the way I played, I can build on that if I end up playing outside linebacker wherever I go.

"I was always a rush defensive tackle in this system. I was fine with that; that's what I did good. I lost the weight and played outside linebacker. I'm good with that, too. I can play multiple positions and I look forward to it."

Neal also pointed to a healthy season, his first as a pro in which he played in all 16 games. He did miss practice time during the year with a hurt shoulder and abdomen but played through. He wasn't seriously hurt until the playoff game against San Francisco, which he left with a knee injury.

No matter what, the complexion of the team is sure to change, with Ryan Pickett, Johnny Jolly and B.J. Raji all up for free agency like Neal.

Neal said he would like to remain in Green Bay because he grew up in Northwest Indiana and played college in the Midwest at Purdue and feels comfortable here. He also seems to have grown close to some people, like Pickett, whom he called a father figure, and linebackers coach Kevin Greene, who coached him through the switch.

"If they'll have me back, then I'll be glad to be back," said Neal on the Monday morning the Packers cleaned out their lockers after the season ended.

Meanwhile, as he also prepares for the arrival of his first daughter in March, he looks back at a difficult year for the team. Injuries took a talented, deep team to the brink.

"People can ridicule our team from different aspects," said Neal. "But you go through what we've been through, worse than 2010, and still come into the playoffs and lose by a field goal with a second on the clock — I don't care what nobody says, that's a hell of a football team, and I applaud everybody for that.

"Dom Capers, he's a great coach, honestly. I read a little bit about what these people say about Dom. People don't know what the hell they're talking about, personally. There's nothing wrong with the scheme. There's nothing wrong with that. I've talked to people, I've asked people higher up, if they think it's the scheme. He said the exact same thing I say. I don't care what play you call, not every play is going to be a win. But you've got to make it a win. That's why you get play-makers."