KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) -- Watching Chad Pennington place cones and simulate routes Monday afternoon, you would never know the NFL quarterback had surgery in April to repair a torn ACL.

You'd be hard-pressed to see that he had four shoulder surgeries before that.

But a hands-on, interactive approach is the only way the Knoxville native knows how to run his yearly Pennington Quarterback & Receiver Camp at Webb School.

"We don't just run them thru drills and get them off the field. We'll focus with them individually one on one and give them something they can take home with them," Pennington, a Webb graduate, said after the first day of his three day camp.

Thru out his career, Pennington has received criticism for not having a strong enough arm to be a successful NFL quarterback, yet he's the league's all-time leader in career completion percentage at 66.0%, among quarterbacks with at least 1,500 pass attempts.

Pennington was taught the basics of the game at an early age. It's these fundamentals he's trying to instill in his campers.

"The same fundamentals and the same values that you are being taught now as a young player and a young person, that never changes. Regardless of the level--high school, college, or professional level--if you think that it changes, you will never get to where you want to go," Pennington said.

To allow more recovery time from his latest injury, Pennington won't suit up for the 2011 NFL season. Instead, the Marshall graduate will put his journalism degree to use and serve as an NFL analyst for FOX sports.

"I've never been patient in my career. I've always tried to beat the injuries and beat the comeback time periods and things like that. I'm going to be patient this time around."

Pennington said it will be a family decision if he returns to the NFL or not. He added that if he does retire, "I'll hang it up, and be proud of what's happened."

In 2000, Pennington was a first round draft pick by the New York Jets.