His shredded tricep healing rapidly, Jeff Faine says he’s ready to return to the practice field to test out his arm.

Here’s Faine’s take on his health, as transcribed from him speaking Friday night on 1010 AM:

“It’s going real good. Rehab’s going real good. We’ve been hitting the weight room pretty hard testing it out. And I’d like to get out there and get on the field … and test it out in some real action,” Faine said. “I think I’m probably right around 70 percent [of full strength]. I’m not planning to come back at 100 percent. …My plan is [to return against Philadelphia]. I don’t know if the training staff of the Tampa Buccaneers what their plan is. …I think it’s going to really rely on how I feel out there during practice when we actually test it in some real football, not necessarily just in the weight room and with strengthening techniques, basically get out there and hit somebody and see how it feels.” 

The St. Pete Times reported Monday that Faine would sit out against the Eagles and likely return against Carolina on Oct. 18. But Joe wouldn’t be surprised to see Faine on the practice field on Wednesday and possibly pressuring the Bucs to let him play in Philadelphia.