"New Orleans Saints veteran tight end Jeremy Shockey was back on the practice field Friday -- but not all the way back.

After recovering from a frightening episode last week when he experienced seizure-like symptoms in the Saints' weight room, Shockey was sidelined Friday by an unrelated case of back spasms.

He didn't participate in the morning practice, then he was limited to the walk-through portion and individual drills in the afternoon as the Super Bowl champions kicked off their three-day minicamp.

Shockey declined to comment, but Coach Sean Payton insisted that Shockey is fully recovered from last week's health scare, which Payton said was caused by low blood sugar and dehydration.

"What's holding him back right now is just his back, " said Payton, who described last week's incident as a "fainting episode" rather than a seizure.

Shockey, too, previously had said on his Twitter account that the episode wasn't a seizure."