Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Arrelious Benn revealed that he passed his physical at One Buccaneer Place on Tuesday, and has been cleared to participate in training camp. Benn's recovery from a torn ACL he suffered in Week 16 last year against Seattle has taken just seven months and he expects to be 100 percent by the start of the regular season on September 11.

"It feels pretty good to be back in here," Benn said. "I really couldn't sleep last night when I got the call from Eric Vance saying that we had to be in here at a certain time. I wanted to be in here showing the trainers what I look like because after all this time they couldn't see me.

"They were like, 'Wow!' For me to be blessed to have this recovery as fast as I did – it was textbook surgery. I've never had a severe injury like this, but I came back pretty well. I'm still taking it slow. ... I cleared my physical, but I'm still taking it slow. There's no need for me to rush into [training camp]. I'm going to be limited for some things, but I'm feeling good."

Benn was not sure if he would be allowed to participate in the preseason game, but feels confident he will be able to suit up against the Lions.

"I would think I would be playing [in the preseason], but we'll see," Benn said. "Training camp starts on Thursday and we'll see. I'll definitely be 100 percent by the opener and ready to go."

Benn discussed how he was able to quickly rehab his injury and put himself in position to be ready for training camp, which starts on Friday at One Buccaneer Place.

"I stayed positive," Benn said. "I kept looking forward to the next day to see how different I could move my leg and how much better I felt. I always stayed on it and I was a knucklehead about it. I wanted to walk. I hate sitting down. I've never had that kind of an injury. The timing of the injury was okay, but I wish I never had the injury. But everything worked out well. I had to hold myself back a little bit."

The 6-foot-2, 220-pounder Benn was the best blocking receiver for Tampa Bay last year. In nine starts, Benn, who was a second-round pick last year, totaled 25 receptions for 395 yards and two touchdowns during his rookie season. He averaged 15.8 yards per catch and excelled as a down-field weapon in the Bucs offense as a complementary receiver for fellow rookie Mike Williams.

Benn felt like he was really coming on before his injury against the Seahawks.

"I felt like I was taking off," Benn said. "I felt like I was feeling comfortable in the situation I was in and was just getting acclimated. I'm the kind of guy that has to know what I'm doing. If I don't know what I'm doing then I can't go full speed. Once I knew what I was doing, and the coaches helped me out a lot – Coach Yarbs (Eric Yarber) and Coach [Greg] Olson – and once I understood the playbook and my role in the playbook and felt comfortable I was able to do what I can do."

The Washington, D.C. native said that he's glad the uncertainty of the lockout is over and that he was able to spend Tuesday at One Buccaneer Place meeting with coaches and the training staff.

"It sucked," Benn said. "It sucked because you had somebody saying one thing, your agent saying something else and the TV saying something else, you don't know who to believe. You can't talk to the coaches or anybody else here at the facility. You just had to wait and see.

"DeMaurice Smith did a great job of just staying on top of what we wanted as players. The deal that we got is great for us and it's going to last 10 years."

Mark Cook contributed to this report