The first five days of training camp have gone pretty well for me. The thing that's kind of weird is that we only have two offensive players from the draft, myself and Tyler Reed.

It's hard to tell how well you've been doing when you don't have guys to judge yourself against as far as reps are concerned. But I think I'm doing just as well as all of the other rookies.

Rookie fullback J.D. Runnels runs with the ball during a recent training camp drill.

The most important thing for me is building camaraderie with the older guys and them having faith and trust in me that I can do what needs to be done on this level and that I can be a player for these guys.

I feel very comfortable with the offense. The thing about this offense is that the fullback has to be versatile and I think that's what I am. You really have to pack a punch as far as blocking. You also have to be able to catch and run and I think I do all of those things pretty well.

We've got two really good guys in front of me in Bryan Johnson and Jason McKie, and they've really helped me out a lot. They've been instrumental in my success. I have to give them a lot of credit. But at the same time we're also fighting for the same job, so although we help each other out there's still good competition there.

In terms of the dynamic between the three of us, we understand that what's going to happen is going to happen. There's a timetable that's set and there are roster spots that need to be filled. But the fullback position is one that takes a lot of pounding. So these guys are not prejudiced as far as reps are concerned when you're isolating blocks on linebackers.

It's weird to say that it's a friendly competition. That sounds like an oxymoron. But it really is. Those guys really want me to succeed and I want to see them succeed. It's definitely a good situation for them and for me.

As far as what I've had to do being a rookie, I've carried shoulder pads for the veterans. Also, every rookie has to sing their college's fight song as well as another song, but I haven't sung yet. I don't want to say that I'm ducking and dodging, but I'm looking over my shoulder to make sure that some of the vets don't sneak up on me. Then again, I've definitely got a song planned, so whenever they call my number I'll be ready.

Jamar Williams sang his school song and "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" by The Temptations. We've had some other guys sing a couple other old school songs. Everybody's been kind of dodging the new songs. They've all been going back and I think that's pretty smart because the older guys will respect that. I'm going to go with a Sam Cooke song, "A Change is Going to Come."