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MIAMI — As you recall, Minnesota quarterback Brett Favre was pretty beat up after the NFC Championship Game. How beat up? Check out the photographs on Rick Cleveland’s blog at the Clarion (Miss.) Ledger.



You’ll see some pretty grotesque pictures of Favre’s ankle and hamstring. According to Cleveland, the pictures were taken the day after the game and were e-mailed by Favre’s agent, Bus Cook.



New Orleans was called twice for roughness penalties on Favre and the NFL later said it should have been three.



I don’t know when the hamstring injury occurred, but the left ankle was sprained when New Orleans defensive end Bobby McCray yanked his ankle from behind. The league said McCray should have been penalized for the play; he was later fined $20,000.



Regardless, I’d say both injuries should be healed up by, oh, sometime in mid-August.

MIAMI — Kurt Warner strode through radio row at Super Bowl media headquarters Tuesday with his head up, shoulders back and a spring in his step.



The Cardinals’ recently retired quarterback reported feeling not even a hint of regret since announcing his decision Friday. We should have known it would be this way when Warner made it through his retirement news conference without crying. He teared up briefly when referring to support his wife and children have provided during his career, but this decision was a long time in the making, not a hasty reaction to a physically and mentally demanding season.



“I’m not worried about it, fretting what happens in the fall,” Warner said between radio interviews. “I just knew it was the right time. I’m not willing to give what it would have taken moving forward and I didn’t want to lose sight of that after the season once I got away. I knew that during the season and I had to make my decision off of that.”



Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt made it clear to Warner that the organization would accommodate him if he wanted to scale back his commitments.



“When I told him I was leaning toward it (retirement), it was basically, ‘Whatever you need, whatever we can do to get you refreshed and back,’ ” Warner said. “The hardest part wasn’t the fact that I wasn’t refreshed going into the season. It’s just how much it took within our circumstances and with what I expected of myself during the season. I could have been as refreshed as all get out, but if I was still going to put in that much time and expect that much from myself, then it wasn’t going to change anything.”



Warner essentially talked himself into returning for the 2009 season. The fact that he would walk away from $11.5 million in scheduled compensation for 2010 affirms as much. Warner was ready to walk away.



“I just couldn’t deny it any more,” Warner said. “Trying to deny it, saying, ‘OK, that was just this one year, it was a long year, Super Bowl, this next year is going to be different.’ When I felt it again, where I just wasn’t enjoying it like I used to, it was just confirmation that this is it, it’s time. Time off or not going to training camp or not having to run, that is not going to do it. The expectation from Monday through Saturday is not going to change. It’s always going to be the same because I’ve set the standard and I just can’t give what it takes.”

MIAMI — Anthony Gonzalez looked uncomfortable, as you’d expect.

Gonzalez

He suffered a knee injury in the first quarter of the season’s first game, and he’s been a spectator ever since. He was supposed to be the young receiver who carved out a bigger niche and became a reliable target for Peyton Manning.



But as he’s rehabilitated, he’s watched his friends Pierre Garcon and Austin Collie do the job and heard the questions about next year. With Gonzalez healthy, the Colts should have an embarrassment of riches for Manning with Reggie Wayne, Dallas Clark, Garcon, and Collie.



“I’m feeling a lot better, the rehab has been a lot longer than I would have liked, but it’s getting stronger every day, I’m getting better every day and I feel very, very confident about next year,” he said.



I asked him about the difficult dynamic of rooting for the team and wishing the other receivers well versus the temptation to think about how that should be or could be him.



“They are getting what they deserve, they are performing exactly how they prepare and exactly how they practice, which is always nice to see,” he said. “I think the big thing is when you’re watching, you try not to do the ‘That-could-be-me’ thing. It will literally depress you instantly if that’s how you think.



“It’s certainly natural. It’s frustrating. You work so hard all year to play 16 regular season games and hopefully make your way into the playoffs and then when it gets taken away from you in the first game in the first quarter, it’s very disheartening and it’s difficult.



How did he keep from getting depressed?



“Time,” he said. “Time heals 99 percent of the wounds in this world. That’s all it is, time. There’s no magic formula. You can’t read a book and feel better. You just go through things, you know?”

MIAMI — We don’t get to hear from New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson all that often, but the Super Bowl has a way of changing things.



It’s basically a league rule that owners have to talk on media day and Benson played by the rules. He didn’t talk for the entire media period Tuesday. But he came out and talked for about 10 minutes while coaches and players were interviewed around him.



Benson didn’t have his own table or microphone. He stood and talked with a small group of reporters and came off as very folksy and very happy about the Saints being in the Super Bowl and how the New Orleans region has reacted to that.



“They haven’t stopped partying the last two weeks,” Benson said.



As you would expect, Benson was asked to reflect on the time period after Hurricane Katrina. At that time, there was a lot of uncertainty about the team and there were reports that the Saints considered a move to San Antonio.



Benson said that never was the case.



“It was a lot different than most people thought,” Benson said. “New Orleans needed the team there. At no time did we look at anywhere else. The questions were about the Superdome and if it could be fixed to play in again.”



Obviously, the Superdome was fixed and the Saints returned in 2006 and the Saints are in the Super Bowl for the first time in franchise history.



“This is my 25th year in the league,” Benson said. “Seeing this team here is a wonderful feeling.”

MIAMI — Former St. Louis running back Marshall Faulk was a popular guy Tuesday at Super Bowl media day. Now an NFL Network analyst, Faulk has some special insight when it comes to Chicago’s new offensive coordinator.



Indeed, Faulk played seven seasons for the Rams when Mike Martz was either the offensive coordinator or head coach. I asked Faulk what advice he would give Bears players as they prepare for the transition.



“Just be in shape,” Faulk said. “You’ll actually practice harder than you play in a game.”



The dynamic everyone wants to know about, of course, is Martz’s relationship with quarterback Jay Cutler. They seemed to hit it off well enough during a weekend meeting in Tennessee, but Faulk said there is no way Cutler can be prepared for what Martz is about to throw at him.



“I’m not sure how [former Denver coach] Mike Shanahan coached him,” Martz said. “And I don’t know how [former Bears offensive coordinator] Ron [Turner] coached him. But this will be eye-opening for him. He’ll never have as much on his plate as he has now. He’ll never complain about throwing the football. Trust me. This will be an experience for him. Last year, he looked like he was bored in the Bears’ offense, maybe a little frustrated.



“If he’s frustrated next year, it won’t be because he is bored.”



We have yet to hear from Cutler on the Martz hire. If he’s smart, he’ll wholly embrace it. More often than not, Martz has elevated the play of the quarterbacks he’s coached.



My corporate cousin Jeff Dickerson of ESPNChicago.com spoke with Faulk about other aspects of the Martz’s offense, including how it might change the roles of tight end Greg Olsen and tailback Matt Forte.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — OK, my chauffeur Tim Graham has safely returned me to the Super Bowl media center. I’ve got a full notebook and tape recorder and a lot to sort through, plus plans brewing for something a little offbeat Wednesday.



Just wanted to check in so you know I am not AWOL.



I’ll post something shortly off of the media day experience, then dive into the Howard Mudd column you’ll see in a few hours.



Meanwhile, here’s a recap of the NFL Nation Live chat we did through media day. It’s drawing rave reviews from the likes of Bloggers Illustrated (“Four stars, top rate!”) and the Paris-based Journal de Blog (“Mon dieu!”).



We thank you for your loyalty and patience in this trying time.



(Matt Moseley’s not here, so I figure I can steal his schtick.)