Mankins received a warm welcome when he showed up in the locker room after ending his holdout. The popular offensive lineman reported Tuesday to Gillette Stadium — an off day for the players — and got right into meetings and the like Wednesday.
"It was good," Mankins said. "I'm happy to be back. I've got a lot of friends here, a lot of guys I have a lot of respect for and love playing with, so it was good to see everyone again. When I let a bunch of guys know the day before, everyone was pretty happy I was coming back. I knew I had a lot of support."
Mankins said "it was just time" to return to the Patriots, but he wouldn’t explain his reasons for reporting this week. Mankins could have waited three more weeks to sign his tender and still earned an accrued season, which would have guaranteed his unrestricted free agency in the offseason. Yet, Mankins didn’t entirely view it in that light.
"I'm not looking at it as if I'm early," Mankins said. "Actually, I'm eight weeks late, so I'm not early."
Mankins, who has been in the Foxboro area since April, watched every Patriots game except Sunday's, when he was trick-or-treating with his kids. He also had regular contact with his teammates, playing golf, going to dinner or just hanging out, so it's not like he walked into the facility cold turkey.
Mankins also said he missed playing, but continued to admit he had his own reasons for staying away. He was asked if he got what he wanted by holding out for so long.
"What I wanted from it?" Mankins said. "Not at the moment."
But did he have any regrets?
"Maybe, not right now, but maybe down the road I'll look back and wish I didn’t," Mankins said. "Or maybe I'll be happy I did. I don’t know. We'll find out, though."
Mankins also wouldn’t comment on the possibility of staying with the Patriots after this season, deferring to his intentions to help the team get ready for this weekend's game in Cleveland. Since the Patriots received a roster exemption for Mankins, it seems unlikely he'll play against the Browns.
Mankins' holdout was uncharacteristic of his personality, which led the debate of money versus principle. Mankins, though, wouldn’t really answer that question with any definition.
"I'm not too worried about that right now," Mankins said. "After the season is when that will come up, and if you guys want to talk about money after the season, if you can find me, I'll talk about it."
