New England Patriots linebacker Robert Spillane gave a relatively shocking answer when asked whether he thought he could play in Super Bowl LX.
“100%”
Spillane, despite his confidence, is dealing with an ankle injury that not only contributed to him missing four games at the conclusion of the regular season but caused him to exit early during an AFC Championship victory over the Denver Broncos. Spillane continues to provide somewhat positive injury updates, however, despite failing to practice at any point over the last two weeks.
New England head coach Mike Vrabel did his best to explain the conflicting messages during his media availability on Thursday.
“We manage these things,” Vrabel said, per team-provided video. “… Robert does mean a lot to us — he’s had a good year for us — so we’ll see how things go today. We still have time to work through things before the game, and then we’ll try to put together the gameday roster that gives us a chance — hopefully that includes Robert, but we have a few more practice days before we get there.”
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I don’t know about you, but those words don’t exactly inspire confidence…
Spillane’s contributions this season have been crucial to the club’s success, but with that being said, it isn’t exactly the end of the world if he only practices twice during the week of the Super Bowl. New England is likely confident that everything surrounding his injury is taken care of — understanding the install, ability to communicate, which will allow it to push this thing to its absolute limit.
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Spillane, for whatever it is worth, did tell ESPN’s Mike Reiss that he would practice on Thursday.
The Patriots won’t officially need to make a decision until 5 p.m. ET on Sunday, which is when inactives lists will be due for Super Bowl LX against the Seattle Seahawks.
Do you think he’ll play? How big of a loss would it be? Let us know in the comments!
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Featured image via Kirby Lee/Imagn Images
