Berea, OH -- (Sports Network) - Center LeCharles Bentley, who has yet to take a snap for the Cleveland Browns since signing a prolific six-year contract with the team in 2006, was medically cleared to play Monday.

Bentley then passed the running test required of all players before participating in on-field practice work.

Regarded as the top free agent in the 2006 off-season, Bentley backed out of an unofficial agreement with the Philadelphia Eagles before signing with the Browns. In July of that year he tore the patella tendon in his knee, sidelining him for all of 2006, and suffered a staph infection that kept him out of the 2007 campaign.

"It's been a long road back," Browns GM Phil Savage told the Browns team web site. "I can't say to what extent he'll be working or what he'll be able to do, but you have to give him a lot of credit for working to get to this point."

Drafted in the second round of the 2002 NFL Draft out of Ohio State by the New Orleans Saints, the two-time Pro Bowl selection appeared in 57 games in four yea