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Eagles WR Maclin Moves Past Cancer Scare

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Jeremy Maclin, who still hasn't practiced yet, has been cleared to return to the team after a cancer scare, trainer Rick Burkholder said Wednesday.

Burkholder said, barring a setback, Maclin will return to practice within 10 days and should be able to play in the Sept. 11 opener at St. Louis.

Burkholder said Maclin began experiencing symptoms -- night sweats, fever, loss of weight, loss of appetite -- in March, synonomous with lymphoma, a form of cancer. But five months of testing to determine the cause were inconclusive.

Burkholder said in a conference call from Pittsburgh, where the Eagles face the Steelers in a preseason game Thursday, that Maclin's symptoms disappeared at some point before late July. He said the cause of the symptoms remains "vague."

"We're confident that the life-threatening stuff is out of the mix," Burkholder said. "Right now, we're going to look at him as having an inflammatory condition that caused him to have the symptoms and the abnormal blood studies."

Maclin underwent a laproscopy procedure last Thursday so doctors could get a clearer biopsy than previous tests had provided. The results came back Wednesday, and were negative.

Maclin, 23, caught 70 passes for 964 yards and 10 touchdowns last year.

(© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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