GREEN BAY, Wis. -- It's safe to call Clay Matthews an expert at outside linebacker. Five Pro Bowls in six seasons and 61 career sacks meet the prerequisite. But when it comes to inside linebacker, it sounds like the Green Bay Packers defensive star considers himself only a notch or two above a rank amateur.

"I'm still figuring out the position," Matthews said Friday.

That's one reason you won't see Matthews' workload decrease in training camp like it does for some veterans entering their seventh NFL season.

We can debate from now until the regular-season opener against the Chicago Bears on Sept. 13 whether splitting your best pass-rusher's snaps between the two spots is the best use of his abilities, but the reality is that come Week 1 -- and likely well beyond that -- Matthews won't play only outside linebacker.

"That's my duty," Matthews said. "I'm playing inside. I need to know what to do. I feel good about it. Obviously coming off the spring work which I put in, I said I felt like a rookie as far as learning the playbook and everything. Now coming back out here, it's a refresher course.

"Obviously, I'm not as well-versed as I am at the outside linebacker position as I just said, being able to kick back outside at a moment's notice. So it's really important for me to really grasp this opportunity and really take it and run with it. I think ever since last year I continue to grow into a stronger player on the inside."

So far in training camp, Matthews has teamed with fellow inside linebacker Sam Barrington -- who moved into a starting role at about the same time Matthews made the position switch midway through last season -- in Dom Capers' base 3-4 defense and some of the nickel packages. When Matthews has played outside in the nickel, Nate Palmer and Jake Ryan have alternated at his inside spot. In the dime, which features just one inside linebacker, Matthews has moved back outside.

"This time is valuable," Barrington said. "Assuming me and Clay will be taking the majority of the reps during the season, this time is valuable because we can really mold everything that we'll have to do once the season comes."

To this point, Matthews said he has not studied other inside linebackers around the league like he studied pass-rushers earlier in his career.

"I had enough to worry about with knowing what to do out there," Matthews said.

As much as the Packers want Matthews to start thinking like an inside linebacker, there's another consideration when it comes to his workload in training camp: Matthews' injury history. Last season was the first since his rookie year (2009) that he played in every game. The biggest recurring issue has been hamstring pulls, an injury that can be caused by fatigue.

"[Matthews'] workload hasn't changed," coach Mike McCarthy said. "He's always worked this much. Where he is working has changed. He's spending a lot more time at the inside linebacker position. We all understand that. I mean, he's played his whole career at outside linebacker, so the ability to keep moving him over there every third day or so is the plan. Just to get the reps from inside and get the full training because he's never had that from starting in training camp and going all the way through training camp."