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          Chicago Bears

          Jared Allen: 'I'm ready to bust someone's head open'

          Jared Allen had a career-low 5.5 sacks last season. AP Images/Scott Boehm
          • Jeff Dickerson, ESPN Staff WriterJul 29, 2015, 07:27 PM ET
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              Dickerson covers the Chicago Bears for ESPN's NFL Nation. He is the co-host of "Dickerson & Hood" on the ESPN Radio national network, and is heard in Chicago on ESPN 1000.
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          BOURBONNAIS, Ill. – Jared Allen is ready for a new beginning at age 33.

          “I’m ready to go out and bust someone’s head open, honestly,” Allen said Wednesday at Chicago Bears camp.

          A 12-year NFL veteran, Allen desperately wants to atone for the Bears’ disastrous 2014 season, which proved to be Allen’s lowest point in the league. After seven straight years of posting double-digit sacks, Allen had a career-low 5.5 sacks in his first season in Chicago.

          “Last year sucked; I’m not going to sugarcoat it,” Allen said. “There are always circumstances around it, but it is what it is. I want to have fun. Last year wasn’t fun. It was miserable. I didn’t transition well coming over from Minnesota like I thought I was going to. There were just all these different circumstances and I let them get to me. I shouldn’t have. I’m about as healthy as I can be right now. I just want to go out and have fun and play football and win football games and display my talents and help our team win. That’s all I want to do.”

          An outside linebacker in a 3-4 defense for the first time in his career, Allen reiterated to reporters on Wednesday that he’s embraced the switch from defensive end, and that he still considers himself a starting-caliber player.

          “Three years ago, if you had tried to make me switch my position, I would’ve quit,” Allen said. “Honestly, because I was a knucklehead and I would’ve been like ‘No, I’m a right end and I’m going to go up against the left tackle. This is where I’m going to be, that’s where he’s going to be, I’m the best, you’re the best, let’s see what happens and play ball.’ But coming off a year where I dealt with injuries and being sick and my production numbers were down, it kind of clears your mind. This game will humble you. However it does it, it will humble you. I got a nice little slice of humble pie last year. You look at a new opportunity as just that, a new opportunity. That’s the way I’m approaching it. I don’t feel anything is owed to me. I’m coming out here to prove that I’ve still got what it takes to be the best at what I do.”