Freeney Ankle Injury
Scott Taylor Senior Writer
By Scott Taylor
HARBOR BEACH, Fla. – The best sack daddy in the Super Bowl will try to play on Sunday evening.
But Indianapolis Colts defensive end Dwight Freeney still isn’t about to guarantee his participation in the biggest game of the year.
Low Ankle Sprain may keep him down!
Freeney has a low-ankle sprain and will also acknowledge that he has some ligament damage (although he won’t say if it’s torn or strained). Tied for third in sacks in the NFL this season with 13.5, Freeney is a force on the Colts defensive line and if he doesn’t play on Sunday, Indy will have to move Raheem Brock to Freeney’s spot on the right side of the rush.
Wednesday morning at the Colts’ breakfast/news conference at the Marriott Harbor Beach Hotel, Freeney had his injured ankle elevated and yet said he wasn’t worried about his participation in Sunday’s Super Bowl XLIV. He’ll keep using the hyperbaric chamber and prepare himself for the required cortisone shot. Steroids may be against the rules, but there are plenty of other drugs that can be used to prepare an athlete for combat.
“For me, the way I look at things, I never really worry,” Freeney said. “This kind of thing is not in my hands. I just take it one day at a time. I just continue to focus my energy on positive things and getting my ankle right. It’s day-to-day. It’s hard for me to put numbers on it, percentages on it, of where exactly it is, but it’s definitely getting there.”
Freeney’s injury has become an interesting irony this week. The Colts were 14-0 when they rolled over and died against the New York Jets in Week 16. They had taken a 15-10 third-quarter lead and then rested all their starters and lost 29-10.
That incensed Colts fans who wanted a 16-0 season, but it also incensed the NFL because it clearly tarnished the integrity of the game. Giving up against a team in a playoff fight with half-a-dozen other teams, many you had beaten earlier in the season, concerned Commissioner Roger Goodell.
Nobody was injured in that game or in Week 17, but Freeney suffered his injury in the final two minutes of a 30-17 blowout in the AFC Championship game against the same New York Jets.
Frustration
“There is a little frustration there, definitely,” Freeney admitted. “You never want to get hurt, especially in the fourth quarter with two minutes left. Maybe if it was in the first quarter or the second quarter, you’re like okay, you know what, it’s the beginning of the game. This is part of the game and this is what happens. No one knows when this type of thing is going to happen, you just have to think positively after the fact and just keep on getting better.”
Freeney said he probably wouldn’t practice this week, but will continue to receive treatment from the Colts medical staff. Freeney is listed as questionable for this Sunday and with Raheem Brock ready to fill in, Freeney figures the Colts will be just fine.
Well, maybe.
“Our defense is a lot deeper than years past,” Freeney added. “Unfortunately because of a lot of injuries that have happened in years past we had to work on that depth in our safeties, our corners, and so forth. I also think our defense is more designed now to handle situations like this because of the way we play. We have different blitzes, we change coverages. We do a lot of things now to disguise things. It’s not necessarily so much burden on particular players. Now we can do some things with coverages and things of that nature to cover that.
“And Raheem Brock is a very accomplished veteran on our team. I think he’s very underrated. He’s very versatile and he does many things for our defense. Not only can he put his hand down, he can actually stand up. He does some standing up and switching sides. He’s been a cornerstone of this defense for years and we know where he’s going to be. He’s a very consistent guy and he makes some things happen for us.”
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1 Comment
Dwight is a tough guy and I’m sure the pain won’t be a factor to him once he takes the field during what just might be the biggest game of his football career.
I still pick the Saints to take home top honors in this match up.