Houston (CBS Houston) – A promise kept by a former employer brought Danieal Manning and the Houston Texans back together.

“Rick [Smith] kept his word,” Manning said. “He told me a long time ago that if this opportunity came, he’d bring me back. He kept his word.”

Manning spent three seasons patrolling the defensive backfield for the Texans before he was released earlier this year. He signed with the Bengals this off-season but was cut over the weekend.

Manning said he did every thing he could do to make the Bengals roster.

“Some of that was out of my control,” he said. “Some things, it just didn’t work out for me. All I could do was what they asked me to do, and what I could control. Played all the preseason games. I made every practice.”

He said he thinks his time with the Bengals was so short because it came down to a numbers situation.

Despite having not been with the team for close to five months, Manning says it feels like he never left.

“Seriously just felt like I was on a vacation,” Manning joked.

Some of his teammates who he didn’t contact personally or missed the report of his return were surprised to see him around the facility.

“Some of them was looking at me like they were staring at a ghost,” he said.

Manning said he stayed in contact with some of the Texans defensive players and would talk with them throughout his time in Cincinnati. He said he is using their knowledge of the new defensive scheme to catch-up.

Despite being friends with his fellow defenders, Manning knows it won’t be easy to see the field.

“They have guys that has done well and has been in this system all through preseason and OTAs,” he said. He compared his situation with the Texans, despite his familiarity with the organization, to Cincinnati. He knows as a veteran player he will have to work hard.

Despite his age, Manning turned 32 last month, he says he feels like he is physically ready to get after it.

“I was healthy after working with those guys [in Cincinatti], and the training staff here, man, them guys got me right,” he said. “I’m stronger than ever.”

Manning is currently wearing number 27, but has discussed getting his old number back from the current owner, rookie Andre Hal.

“We had a chance to talk, and he was willing to give it to me,” he said. “So I took 27. It’s strange to see him running around in it, and I’m looking around ‘I didn’t do that.'”

So what about a possible payment to take 38 off Hal’s hand?

Manning said he discussed that but joked if that happened they would keep it private.

Get in touch with Cody Stoots on Twitter – @Cody_Stoots

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