Source: IndyStar.com
By: Mike Chappell
A Colts’ spokesman said the team’s career sack leader suffered “a third-degree, low basketball ankle sprain” in their Jan. 24 AFC Championship Game victory over the New YorkJets
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“We expect him to be questionable for the Super Bowl,” Craig Kelley said Sunday night.
In an interview with NFL Network at Sunday night’s ProBowl at Sun Life Stadium, Colts wide receiver Reggie Wayne said, “Dwight told me he’ll be ready.”
That remains to be seen. A third-degree sprain is the worst, and usually involves a torn or ruptured ligament.
Dr. Mark D. Miller of the University of Virginia School of Medicine noted on an Internet posting that a third-degree sprain “is the most serious and the most unstable. The ligament group can completely tear, resulting in ankle instability.”
Surgery often is required.
“Treatment,” Miller wrote, “usually involves immobilizing the ankle in a cast or walking brace for up to six weeks. This degree of sprain requires eight-12 months to allow the ligament to properly heal.”
Freeney did not practice last week and arrived in South Florida on Friday to maximize his treatment.
A source close to Freeney, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Sunday evening “it’s tough to guess if he’ll be 100 percent” when the Colts meet the New Orleans Saints in Sun Life Stadium.
“I’m sure he’ll give it a go,” the source said, declining to elaborate on the nature of the injury.
Freeney has generated a club-record 84 sacks during his eight-year career. His game is based on speed, getting off the ball in a nanosecond. His familiar spin move requires him to plant his right foot and pivot on pass-rush moves. A severe sprain likely diminishes his ability to do that.
Freeney was named to his fifth Pro Bowl, but was not at the stadium Sunday night.
The NFL required Pro Bowl players from the Colts and Saints to attend the all-star game. After going through a final, light workout at the team’s Indianapolis headquarters Sunday afternoon, Wayne, quarterback Peyton Manning, tight end Dallas Clark, center Jeff Saturday, safety Antoine Bethea and defensive end Robert Mathis boarded a charter flight and arrived at Sun Life Stadium in time for pregame introductions.
Neither Clark nor Manning shed much light on Freeney’s situation.
“With Freeney, he has had injuries before where they said (he was) not going to play and he has come back,” Clark said during ESPN’s Pro Bowl telecast. “He is a competitor. He is one of the toughest guys on our team and I never expect him to miss anything because of the character he has and the kind of guy he is.”
Manning said it was “hard to speculate at this point. Dwight’s one of our best players, we know that, but all season long coach (Jim) Caldwell has talked about ‘picking up the bayonet.’
“Someone’s got to step up. If Dwight were not able to go, that would be tough. But somebody else will step up and we’ll feel confident whoever that is.”
If Freeney is limited or unable to play against the Saints, the focus swings to veteran Raheem Brock to help take some of the pressure off Mathis. Mathis finished the season with 91/2 sacks and ranks second in club history with 63. He and Freeney combined for 23 of the Colts’ 34 sacks.
The Colts have been able to compensate for Freeney’s absence in the past, posting a 9-3 record overall when he has been out of the lineup. However, he missed a 2007 playoff game against San Diego with a foot injury and the Colts lost 28-24.
The Colts’ preparation for their second Super Bowl in four years moves to South Florida today. The team is scheduled to arrive at its Fort Lauderdale headquarters — the Marriott Harbor Beach Resort — at approximately 6 p.m. and selected players will meet with the media for the first time.
