Minnesota Vikings center Matt Birk has returned to the team after skipping voluntary workouts to spend time with his family and voice his displeasure over his current contract situation.

However, Birk stressed that the fact he did not receive a new contract was a small part of the reason why he didn’t show up for the workouts.

He expressed how grateful he was to get to spend time with his family while at the same time understanding how lucky he is to be able to play football.

Birk’s wife is pregnant, so he felt it was his obligation to take the time now to stay with her considering things will get really busy for him in about two months.