GREEN BAY, Wis. — The conversation surrounding the Green Bay Packers’ future at inside linebacker often centers around players like Jake Ryan, Sam Barrington, Carl Bradford and Clay Matthews. That makes sense, given that Barrington started the final nine games at the position last season, Ryan and Bradford were both fourth-round picks and Matthews is a high-profile, versatile player.

But there’s one inside linebacker who should not be forgotten about in the competition: Joe Thomas.

Even with A.J. Hawk, Brad Jones and Jamari Lattimore a part of the team in 2014, Thomas was so impressive throughout the early parts of training camp that he was perhaps on the verge of making the 53-man roster as an undrafted rookie free agent. A knee injury in the first preseason game ended any hope of that for Thomas, though.

Back in Green Bay for his second season, the early development Thomas showed is a year further along. And while it’s Ryan who most assume is the young player with the best chance of contributing at inside linebacker this season, Thomas is the somewhat forgotten man who could surprise many.

"The opportunity is wide open," Thomas said. "There’s a lot of guys here, but I’m just going to continue to be me, work hard. If my hard work elevates me to the starting spot, so be it."

A starting spot? Well, Thomas wasn’t trying to get too far ahead of himself. Sort of.

"My goal is to make the roster," he said. "(But) to earn that starting spot would be excellent."

The Packers have already showed they are committed to Thomas. After reaching an injury settlement with him last year, the team brought him back at the soonest possible time — which, per NFL rules, is after Week 8 of the regular season.

Thomas was back at his alma mater of South Carolina State rehabbing his knee when he found out in early November 2014 that Green Bay wanted him back.

"It meant everything," Thomas said. "The first time I came in I felt it was a dream come true to play for the Packers, because the Packers are such a high-class organization. When I got that call (a second time), it was amazing."

Due to his classification, Thomas was able to compete in rookie orientation camp last week. Though head coach Mike McCarthy noted that he didn’t watch much of Thomas in those practice sessions, comments that were made on Aug. 7, 2014 show just how pleased the Packers were with him.

"Joe has been impressive from the standpoint that he’s a young guy getting in and just not being afraid," McCarthy said at the time. "Sometimes you get young guys who are so tentative to make a mistake, they’re so worried about being so assignment-conscious all the time. Here’s a guy that is very quiet and reserved but he goes about his business the right way in that he simply gets on the field and understands not only what he has to do, but he understands that ‘I’m here to show my skillset, my talent.’ He’s been able to do that so far.

"Once you have that confidence to be able to start off fast and start off well, it usually just rolls over into production and then you just grow from there. So if he continues to do that, we can be excited about him."

Thomas remembers thinking back in early August that he felt he had a good shot to make the 53-man roster. Standing around a pile after a play cost him the opportunity to find out if it actually would have happened.

"Someone fell on my leg and that was it," he said. "Bum-bum. I tried to play through it, but Coach took me out. . . . But what’s in the past is in the past. You learn from it and have to move forward."

If Thomas can prove to be valuable on special teams while also being part of an inside linebacker group that’s few in numbers and overall talent, he’ll increase the likelihood of fulfilling what could have happened for him last year. In Thomas’ mind, that shouldn’t be a problem.

He considered himself a "special teams guru" as a freshman and sophomore in college. As his role elevated, the South Carolina State coaching staff had Thomas just focus on defense in his junior and senior seasons.

It was on special teams last preseason when McCarthy really noticed Thomas.

"Joe Thomas made a huge play on the kickoff," McCarthy said the day after the preseason opener in Tennessee. "That’s something for a young guy to jump out."

Special teams. Inside linebacker. Whatever it is, Thomas wants to be a part of the team this upcoming season. And with a year of work under his belt, he should have a better chance at accomplishing that now.

"I’ll be ahead of the curve," Thomas said. "I’ll be able to come right in and just go off ability instead of everything running through my brain, all the clouds about all the new plays."

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