On his holdout as a rookie:

"The whole time I was ready to play football. I was going through numbers and talking with my agent (Joel Segal). I had a great agent and just listened to him."

On his efforts to speed up the contract negotiations:

"I was trying to speed up the process the whole time, but I did follow my agent's direction."

On what he expected on his first day of training camp:

"Like mini-camp, the biggest challenge is trying to get into a groove again."

On how long it will take him to get back into the groove:

"It will take a couple of practices, but I'll be getting into the playbook, and everything should be back to normal."

On what he has been doing the past couple days:

"I was in Baton Rouge, Louisiana working out with my former teammates at LSU."

On when he expects to start:

"I'm just going out there and giving it all I got. I'm just here to help the team by doing whatever I can and letting Coach Gibbs determine what I do."

On whether signing his contract opened his eyes to the money he was making:

"My main focus was on playing football. I know what the numbers are, but it's not all about that for me. I have a passion for playing football, and I'm ready to come back and join my team."

On the events of his first day:

"Being out here and doing all of the football drills was pretty hard. This morning I came in and did my conditioning test, which I passed, but getting back into football activities like back peddling, braking on the ball, and change of pace were somewhat difficult, but as practice went on I got into a flow."

On whether he can earn a starting position faster than either Sean Taylor (S, #21) or Carlos Rogers (CB, #22) did in their rookie seasons:

"I'm not here to compete with my teammates; we're here to work together. I just want to get out there and help the team. I am my own person, and I am ready to help my team in the best way."