Posted by ESPN.com's Paul Kuharsky
Houston tight end Owen Daniels skipped minicamp to make a statement about his contract even after he signed his restricted free agent tender.
There was a lot of speculation about whether he would show up Friday as the Texans started practicing.
He did.
Here's some of what he said in a conversation with the Houston media, from a transcript provided by the team's public relations staff.
On if he ever considered not coming to camp:
"Um, not seriously. First of all, that's a lot of money per day, and second of all, I want to work. I'm the type of player who wants to come out and do what I'm supposed to do. What happened before, early in the offseason, OTAs and minicamp, I felt like I was being treated unfairly, so I had to do some certain things, but I'm here now, ready to work. I kind of feel like a rookie again. I've got my blinders on. I worked my butt off my rookie year to earn my spot, and I'm taking that mentality again, because I guess I haven't proven enough thus far these first three years. I'm just going to bust my ass every day during camp and throughout the season, so hopefully they'll see some more out of me in the future."
On the current status of talks:
"I'm just out here working. There are no talks right now. We'd like to talk, but there's no discussion. I'm playing out my tender and going to work, that's about it."
On how that makes him feel:
"It doesn't make me feel great. I feel great being out here with my teammates. I love Houston, I love this team, I love playing for coach [Gary] Kubiak. This is the place I want to be for the rest of my career. I guess I always thought that was going to happen with what's happened in the past three years. I feel good about being here. I don't have all of those positive thoughts any more, but I love my teammates and I'm here to work for them."
On whether he's hurt by this process:
"I'll repeat that over and over again. I love playing for Kube. I love playing for my teammates. We've got a great team that can do a lot of great things in the future, and I want to be a part of it. There are a lot of signs pointing that that might not happen. I don't want to be put in a situation where I have to make a decision not to be here in the future, so I'd like them to make that decision for me."
On whether or not he's concerned with how he'll be portrayed:
"People can look at me however they want to. I've been a great guy on the field and off the field in this city. I don't know what else I can say. I know people probably don't understand the business side of things, and that's alright. People are going to say whatever they want and have their own opinions, and that's not for me. The people that really know me know that I want to be here, that I'm a good guy and that I'm not an unfair person. I'm a reasonable guy, and that's all I'm really looking for in return."