Saints S Darren Sharper met with the media following today's practice. He discussed with reporters his rehabilitation from offseason knee surgery and the status of his former teammate Minnesota Vikings QB Brett Favre.

*How is your knee coming along? *"It's coming along well. It's getting stronger each and every day."            

*Does it make you antsy watching the other guys run around a little bit? *"I'm not antsy. I just want to make sure I'm healthy when I come back. That's the main concern with me right now."        

*What's the main concern as far as the injury and going through repetitions on the practice field? *"It's just to make sure you have the proper strength in it and make sure you have the proper stamina that you can practice a whole practice, come back and maybe practice again so that you make sure you're ready to go through a game and don't have any worries and any setbacks." 

What do you think of the latest Brett Favre retirement talk?"It's one of those things where we have to wait and see. It's still early and there's still a lot of training camp left. There's still a lot of time before September 9. My main focus is what's going on here, but as far as that, it's one of those wait and see type of things."       

Do you have a timetable for when you realistically hope to return to the field?"Right now, I think the timetable is to get some work in the second part of the preseason. My rehab is going well. If it heals faster and if I feel ready to go before then, I'll try to get out there before then, but I definitely want to get some preseason games in before the regular season."       

Are you looking more at the third and fourth preseason games?"Yes, the second half."          

Could you go without the preseason and line up against Minnesota?"I want to get preseason snaps. I definitely want to do that."       

You don't think this is the final chapter on Favre?"Has there ever been a final chapter. We haven't seen a final chapter yet in that book. It's still ongoing. Even in the middle of the season it could still be an ongoing thing. I know the first game of the season, whoever the starting quarterback is; we'll make sure we're well-prepared for them."   

*Do you think it's always a possibility that he could appear in week six? *"He's come back on his own schedule. We're going to see. I think that camp has to worry more about that and the uncertainty is more in Vikings camp. We're going to know who we're going to play the week before that game and that's who we're going to focus in on."   

*How much does it change the dynamic if he doesn't play? *"Big change. You have a Hall of Fame quarterback as compared to guys that are solid quarterbacks. It's a big dynamic change. Brett can make plays that not too many quarterbacks who have ever played this game can make."