BearTalk

Following up on my notebook item on Michael Calvin on Sunday, here is more from our conversation:

On his approach to spring practice:

“I’m just trying to stay healthy. That’s my biggest emphasis. I’m feeling good. I was a little discouraged in the offseason because I got some swelling in my knee. But it went away.”

On putting his knee problems behind him:

“You have to. If you don’t, you’re going to come out here and second-guess yourself, you’re going to second-guess your technique, you’re going to second-guess everything you do on the football field. I personally can’t afford it. I have a spot to work for.”

On still thinking about the knee on the field:

“The only thing that I think about is the pain that I had when I first tore my ACL. I tore it on a post corner. When I get a post corner, I kind of think about it.”

On if he still believes he can be the same player before the injury:

“I got injured but I really didn’t lose anything. The mental part of it is the toughest. Everything else physically I do probably better than how I did it before. That never crosses my mind.”

On what he’s learned the past two years:

“Just being patient and accepting the fact that my knee is not going to be perfect anymore. I’m just going to have to come out here and work with what I got. I just have to be move forward.”

On the mental part of overcoming injuries:

“It’s more mental than it is physical. It truly is hard to get over the mental part of it. Every day, I think about it. It’s all mental.”

On why he changed his number from 84 to 11:

“I have to get a fresh start. 84 wasn’t doing it. I just switched it up. I saw 11 and thought that I can rock the (Larry) Fitzgerald look.”

Jeff Tedford on Calvin’s development:

“He’s never been able to really finish anything. Every time he gets going, he takes a step back. So hopefully he can stay healthy.”