Alvin Kamara's strange, potentially unexcused absences ended last week, but the questions about it continue.
Kamara was short in his responses on the matter Monday.
"Not really, I ain't ever held out in my life," Kamara said when asked if he wanted to clear anything up about recent reports regarding his status. "That's about it."
Kamara was missing from practice last week and reports swirled that his absence was indeed unexcused, while his camp refuted such a claim and pointed to an epidural the running back received to alleviate a back issue as the reason for his lack of participation. At the same time, a contract dispute was unfolding between Kamara and the Saints, leading some to believe Kamara might be staging a pseudo holdout under the guise of a health issue.
Kamara pledged to return following the epidural and followed through on his promise, taking the field Wednesday while the Saints were "actively negotiating" a new deal for the back, coach Sean Payton told reporters.
Kamara didn't elaborate very much on the matter Monday, closing discussion with a succinct response:
"I came to the building every day," Kamara said. "That's all I've got to say."
He's not lying, but we'll leave it up to his teammate, tackle Terron Armstead, to gracefully explain the matter with a look to the future.
"It's a blessing to be in this business," Armstead said, via the Times-Picayune's Luke Johnson. "It's a blessing on both sides: The team gets to negotiate a long-term deal with a player the caliber of Alvin Kamara, to have someone in the building like that to have the chance to extend, and it's a blessing for Alvin to have a team that wants you. I think it's a great thing. Hopefully we get the numbers and the years and all that figured out, but that match is set and those two will be intertwined for a long time."
Kamara has yet to sign an extension, but as Armstead said, it seems to be something that will get done sooner rather than later. We might never know the full details of Kamara's absence, but it seems as if the matter is in the past.
