"Antonio Gates is sore and grateful.

"It felt great," Gates said Monday afternoon, one day after playing in a game for the first time in a month. "… I've been through a lot, so for what I've been through it's definitely an upgrade. I just want to get back to being 100 percent healthy. I'm not 100 percent, but if I can come back and have a little soreness, that's just the National Football League. Every player feels that way on Monday. It's exciting to be back to just being sore."

Considering the immense pain he endured every week to play through plantar fasciitis much of last season, the way he felt Monday is definite progress."