By Tom Rock
Curtis Martin said he’s still focused on coming back to football, but the measured cadence of his speech gave the impression that he was trying to convince himself as much as he was trying to convince us.
He spoke eloquently and from the heart about what he would want his legacy in the NFL to be and how he has been preparing himself for the end of his career since his second year in the league, but when it came to the topic of coming back this year, he was very cautious. “Definitely isn’t a word I’m going to use,” he said of practicing in the first week of November, which would be nearly 11 months after his knee surgery. “Hopefully. That’s the work that I will use.”
In a nutshell, Martin said he is still rehabbing his right knee and looking to get back on the practice field to test it after the Cleveland game. He said he was looking forward to do so this week, when his window to come off the PUP list opened, but he is listening to doctors and team officials and waiting the extra two weeks. “I don’t know how much of a difference it will make in my body in two weeks,” he said, “but I do believe we will be able to make a wiser decision.”
Martin said he won’t answer questions about what he will decide to do if he cannot come off the PUP list this season, or if he practices but is not well enough to make the active roster. “If that was to come about, I’ll answer that question then,” he said. “Right now, I honestly can’t answer that question.”