Benjamin Watson was back out on the practice field for this afternoon's hot and steamy practice at Gillette Stadium.

Having been a part of the Patriots' offensive system since 2004 has certainly helped the tight end keep up despite missing a good deal of training camp with his unspecified injury. But new twists are always being added, he was saying prior to today's practice, and nothing replaces actually being out there on the field.

"Yeah, definitely I feel behind as far as not being able to practice, not doing the conditioning - that will be a big thing - and just going through the practices," he said. "It's one thing to understand what to do, but it's another thing to go and do it."

Watson says he has been feeling less pressure from the coaching and training staffs to return to action than the pressure he has been putting on himself. But he realizes the benefit of erring on the side of caution.

"Any time you have an injury, there's always a certain timetable, and that timetable depends on how fast things heal, it depends on what the coaches feel they want you to do and when they release you to go. As an athlete, you always do your best to try to get better as fast as you can because this is your livelihood. And then the decision lies with the coaches how they want to use you.

Watson undoubtedly wants to return to action as quickly as possible given the other players vying for his position, including former Jet Chris Baker, Alex Smith, who was acquired earlier this year from Tampa Bay, and David Thomas. (The list of contenders was reduced by one on Sunday when the Patriots released Tyson DeVree.)

Coach Bill Belichick recently said the battle for the tight end spot is "probably the best we've had," and Watson agrees.

"No. 1, I think experience," he said when asked what makes this group of players so good. "Everybody in the room has a lot of playing experience [either from playing] here or with other teams. Also, I think everybody can do everything a tight end needs to do. I think everybody has picked up the system. We all know what to do. We try to pride ourselves on not making many mistakes, so I think it's a good group. . . . .We all learn from each other. Each guy in here has played at least four years, I think, so we've seen a lot of different things in our careers. So it definitely helps."