Portis wants to return

The surgery is done; the questions remain. Did Clinton Portis return too soon? Will he play again – in Washington or elsewhere?

For Portis, the answers are simple. To the first question, he said he didn’t return too soon from a five-game absence for a groin injury. In his one game back, Portis carried five times for 32 yards – and then hurt his lower abdomen.

And because Porits had surgery on not only his abdomen, but his groin, it’s a fair question to ask.

“I don’t think so,” he said. “I recovered from the groin to get back on the field. If you watched the game, you didn’t see any setback, anything lingering through two weeks of practice before I stepped on the field… Having it re-happen, I don’t think it was, ‘Oh, I should have sat out.’ For that one quarter to go out and provide the spark and the energy I provided, I felt great.”

As to the second question, it’s a no-brainer for Portis. Even though this is now the third season-ending injury he’s suffered in five years. Portis is owed a base salary of $8.3 million in 2011 and $8.5 million in 2012, so if he does return to Washington he’d have to renegotiate his salary.

“Of course I want to come back and play,” he said. “The previous two seasons, just losing the lust for the game and not really knowing what I wanted to do compared to finally putting the work in this offseason and getting back and having a system that you believe in and getting the right teammates. All of a sudden you miss it again…I look forward to coming back next year.”

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