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Conner to be full participant when Pitt opens camp

Charles LeClaire / USA TODAY Sportss

James Conner is cancer-free and ready to get back on the gridiron, and Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi is giving him the green light.

Narduzzi announced Monday that Conner will be a full participant in team practice when the Panthers open training camp on Aug. 8, according to Andrea Adelson of ESPN.

While the return of Conner is certain to be a fire that fuels the team, Narduzzi also wants to keep an eye on his running back and make sure his transition back is managed properly.

"We have to slow him down," Narduzzi said. "He won't slow himself down. We just have to monitor him a little bit, make sure we don't wear him out. We have to be smart. You let him go out there for a two-a-day, but you don't have him out there every snap."

In total, Conner endured 12 rounds of chemotherapy treatment from December 2015 to May 2016. Looking ahead to the Panthers' season opener against Villanova on Sept. 3, the last thing Conner wants is all the attention of the game focused on him.

"This is not going to be James Conner versus Villanova," Conner wrote in an essay for The Players' Tribune. "I'm going to be alongside my brothers, and we're going to play as a team on Sept. 3. Make no mistake about it, though, I'm going to embrace every moment - the pregame meal, the team movie, the bus ride, everything. And I'm definitely looking forward to that first stiff-arm."

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