He strode in wearing a bright green, yellow and orange-striped dress shirt, sat down, and on the very first question, displayed his trademark grin.

"I feel fine, other than a couple headaches here and there," Michael Robinson assured the media at Joe Paterno's weekly press conference yesterday. "I just pray to God that I'm walking and able to come back and say hi to you guys."

Yep, same old Michael. But, after Penn State's utility player suffered a concussion and temporary paralysis in a brutal helmet-to-helmet hit Saturday in the Wisconsin game, it was a Michael who was especially relieving for many to see.

Robinson was present to report -- and show -- that he was, indeed, all right and that other than the headaches, the inability to sleep through the night and the restrictions on his physical activity, nothing about him had changed since before the weekend. Still, he is being monitored on a day-to-day basis by team doctors and will most likely not participate in this weekend's game at Minnesota.

"When you get knocked out, they've got a procedure where it's going to take at least a week or two," Penn State coach Joe Paterno said. "He will not play this week. I talked to [Director of Athletic Medicine Dr. Wayne] Sebastianelli, and he said it may be three or four weeks before he will be cleared."

Robinson is not allowed to play with the team yet, but nevertheless attended practice yesterday, seeing the need to help prepare quarterbacks Chris Ganter and Anthony Morelli, and inspire the receiving corps to be more aggressive. And he said he swears that he has his own way to make sure the injury doesn't set him back a beat.

"Until all symptoms go away, I can't do much physical activity, but I'm always practicing," Robinson said. "I'm always taking mental reps, so I never stop practicing."

Late in the first quarter at Camp Randall Stadium, Robinson, who was subbing in as quarterback for a recently injured Zack Mills, dropped back and was promptly sacked by Wisconsin defensive end Erasmus James. He then lay on the ground for 10 minutes before being taken off the field in an ambulance, drifting in and out of consciousness and temporarily paralyzed.

"I just remember dropping back -- it was the play we ran the previous series -- I looked at [wide receiver] Terrance Phillips," Robinson said. "This time he ran the right route and the safety stayed deep, and I was coming off to my second receiver. I just remember getting ready to come off the second receiver and then Dr. Sebastianelli trying to wake me up."

Robinson was taken to the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics, where he was treated and monitored overnight. Though he had regained feeling in the left side of his body within an hour and was able to walk out of the hospital unaided Sunday morning, the paralysis was the scariest part for Robinson.

"The doctors are saying to you, 'Do you feel this, do you feel that?' and I'm like, 'Do I feel what?' " Robinson said. "For a second there it gets really emotional when you can't feel parts of your body. Fortunately it came back."

Former Penn State football player Adam Taliaferro, who suffered a spinal injury against Ohio State in 2000, knows how scary that feeling can be and made sure to check in with Robinson the night he returned to State College.

"[He] asked me how I felt and said, 'Yeah I understand, I understand what you're going through,' " Robinson said. "And [he] said, 'Man, just thank God that you're able to go back on the field, because I wish I could go back every day.' It was an emotional conversation."

Taliaferro was not the only one to check in with Robinson, as he's received countless calls and e-mail messages from people he doesn't know or hasn't thought about in years, including his fifth grade teacher. And the offensive line, more than apologetic for letting its quarterback get hit, had plans for receiving Robinson's absolution: a Playstation game and a lobster dinner.

Robinson didn't have to make an appearance at the press conference, a point Paterno made clear.

"Only if he wants to," he told a sports information director before the conference started. "Make sure he knows it's optional."

But Robinson, naturally a charismatic and talkative guy, didn't mind one bit. He knows the public loves him, and that they fancy him a warrior and he wanted the chance to prove firsthand that this warrior is, thankfully, doing just fine.