Coach Coughlin said you were going to practice today?
Well, there it is. I’m going to practice today. That’s exciting news for me.

Do you feel taking a week off helped it?
Yeah but I’ve been dealing with this since week three and I thought I’ve been performing pretty good with that injury and it’s just late in the year and everybody is dealing with injuries here and there. It’s just that time of the year in this business.

The fact you didn’t play last week but they want you to play this week – does that speak to the urgency and importance of this game?
Yeah, this game is very important. You have a good football team coming in here. We are the head honchos of the conference and this game means a lot to our team. I want to be out there to have better chances for our team
to win. Whatever I can do to help us win I’m all for that.

Learning process having to deal with this as you play because you are clearly not 100%…
I’ve been dealing with it since week three. It’s nothing new to me. I found my ways to deal with it. I’ve learned how to deal with it.

Has it gotten worse or has it stayed the same since week three?
It’s the same feeling since week three and like I said I fell on it against the Eagles and it was just a tad bit more pain. But we had Monday and Tuesday off and tried to take some rest on Wednesday and I didn’t know if I was going to be able to go. It wouldn’t have done anything but the team, trainers and doctors made the decision that I shouldn’t play so I didn’t play.

How much did you plead your case?
I pleaded with Ronnie and Byron because they work with us every day and they have been doing this for years so I feel I can tell them anything and get their input but they said no.

There was no pleading this week?
No, I don’t want to plead this week. There is no choice. I want to go. Whoever I have to talk to in order to get this verdict that’s what I’m going to do.

You expect to do everything today?
I expect to do whatever is expected and that’s what I want to do. I want to play. We have a good team that is coming in here. The game means a lot to our team and I want to be ready to go.

Through a long period of time people were saying you had the best running attack in football. Now since you guys have stepped back Carolina has seemed to pick up that mantle a little bit. Do you sense that and is that a source of pride on Sunday?
Let me get something straight. We are still number one in the league. The last couple of games we played haven’t been very good and we are still number one in the league. No matter how many yards another team gets we were that far ahead. So in saying that, we are going to get out here on Sunday and do what we can do to win this game.

How bad to do you want to be out there on Sunday?
I want to be out there very bad. Coach said I am practicing so here we go.