FOXBORO -- There have been more California condor sightings over Gillette Stadium lately than sightings of Ken Walter in the Patriots' locker room.

But the reclusive punter made a rare appearance before reporters Wednesday to assure them that he was well, both physically and mentally, and also prepared to endure the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune for as long as the Patriots want him.

``I've never felt better,'' Walter said. ``I just take it one game and one kick at a time.''

After his week of forced vacation, following his release after the Indianapolis game, Walter returned to the fold for Sunday's game against the Jacksonville Jaguars and fared fairly well. He booted four punts for a 40.3-yard gross average, a 40.5 net average (thanks to a muff and a loss on one return), including a long punt of 51 yards and one that was downed at the Jaguars' 4.

``It felt good to be back out there,'' he said. ``I just blocked a lot of things out and tried to win the crowd back over and get them back on my side. It's hard to watch it from the outside when you have to leave, but I'm pretty happy to be here and to help this team win.'' Walter admitted that during his streak of increasingly poor punts prior to the Indianapolis game, he was putting a lot of pressure upon himself in a manner that wasn't going to help him improve.

``I did let some things affect me, but that's only natural,'' he said, alluding to personal sensitivity over media reports during his slump. ``When there's a huge pressure situation, a lot of things can happen and I think I have a better mindset now than I did then.

``I'm not doing anything different,'' he said. ``I've done this for a long time now, I've had a lot of snaps in this league ... it's just basically blocking out a lot of the other things and doing what I've done my whole life.''