Notre Dame quarterback Dayne Crist knows what to stay away from when surfing the net.

And one of the top no-go zones is anything about him.

"As a player you would drive yourself absolutely crazy if you paid attention to that stuff or if you got caught up in message boards," Crist said Saturday in his first public comments since tearing the patellar tendon in his left knee Oct. 30. "Players know nothing good comes out of that. Players understand that is the last place you want to be spending time."

One of the rumors making its rounds was that Crist would transfer from Notre Dame after a second knee injury in as many years and because of the competition for the starting quarterback job next year.

But Crist said he isn't going any where even if he couldn't play football again.

"When I was making the decision to come here, one of the things that you think about at any school, is can I be happy if I couldn't play football. The answer is yes for me," Crist said. "I'm happy here. I'm going to graduate next December and have an unbelievable degree. That's part of the reason I came here.

"If the worst ever happened and I could never play football again, I'm very happy with my decision. It's one of the reasons I won't be transferring."

As far as when he will be able to start playing again, that is still up in the air.

Crist said there is no set timeline for when he can start practicing, but he would like to be able to participate in at least some of the spring drills.

"If we are able to kind of exceed expectations like we were able to last year, nobody will be happier then me," Crist said. "I also have the understanding that you just have to do whatever to be healthy. Health is the most important thing."