Oft-criticized Justin Harrell just made it through an off-season devoid of injuries, setbacks or rehabilitation.

Yes, he dropped out of Tuesday's practice due to an illness. But other than that minor bug, the defensive lineman is setting himself up for what could be his most productive season yet.

"It's been huge, just going through all this," Harrell told the Packers' official website. "It's added reps, especially putting in a new defense and things like that. It's one of those things where you want to be out there until you can get comfortable with the techniques and all those things.

"It's kind of like a dress rehearsal for when training camp starts, so you have some kind of knowledge of what you're supposed to be doing when you get out there."

After both teasing and disappointing Packers fans for his first two NFL seasons, Harrell is making strides in his third season as a pro.

Harrell doesn't need to be a starter to be effective this season. But he does need to be healthy, and he does need to be a contributing member of the defense.

If he can spell some of the first string ends once in a while, that will be an improvement. If he can be stout at the point of attack and swallow up offensive blockers, that will be huge. If he can add a couple sacks or bat down a few passes with his long levers, that will be a bonus.

In the 3-4, Harrell doesn't need to put up big tackle numbers to be effective. And that's why I'm personally optimistic about him being a valuable, contributing member of the Packer defense this season.

There aren't many measurables that will define his success in the 3-4 as there were in the 4-3. In fact, the biggest indicator of success for Harrell (and the entire defensive line for that matter) could be the number of tackles the linebackers make and maybe the number of tackles for a loss.