COLTS’ FREENEY SAYS ANKLE IMPROVING, COULD PLAY

Dwight Freeney further clouded his status for Superbowl 44 with comments on Wednesday that his ankle is feeling better and that he may be able to play in Sunday’s game against the New Orleans Saints.  Freeney had been all but ruled out of the game by NFL observers and even his own coach following a severe ankle sprain with a good deal of ‘worst case scenario’ speculation that he’d torn a ligament that would require surgery.

The Superbowl betting line has also been impacted by the speculation over Freeney’s status.  NFL betting enthusiasts have come in on the Saints since the severity of Freeney’s injury became public, with the current line having the Colts a -4’ point favorite with the total set at 56’.  At this point with so much early action on the Colts it’s likely that even more money could come in on the Saints as game day approaches.

Though Freeney has been attempting to rehab his knee with a variety of cutting edge treatments including oxygen chambers and electronic devices it’s a very ‘old school’ method that appears to be having the most positive impact—he’s spent a lot of time walking barefoot in the South Florida sand and Freeney admitted that’s worked wonders:

"Sometimes walking is good because it keeps things fluid. You hear people say he should be in a boot or something. But sometimes it can get stiff, and you've got to get that motion back in the ankle. It gets the blood flowing, so I've been walking around barefoot and in the sand."

Freeney said that his ankle is less painful every day:

"It's better than yesterday, and yesterday was better than the day before. It's a slow progression right now, but that's where it is. Every morning I wake up, and it feels a little better."

And although Freeney wouldn’t speculate if he could play or not, he did offer this observation that strongly suggested that playing on Sunday was his goal:

"I hope to be myself. Or as close to myself as I can be."

The team is already preparing for the possibility that they’ll have to play Superbowl 44 without their best defender.  Earlier this week, quarterback Peyton Manning observed:

"It's hard to speculate at this point. Dwight is one of our best players, we know that. But all season long Coach Caldwell has talked about picking up the bayonet. Someone's got to step up. If Dwight were not to be able to go that would be tough, but somebody else will step up and we'll feel confident in whoever that is."

The Colts still have another All Pro pass rusher in Robert Matthis in the lineup, but whomever would replace the injured Freeney would have to step up his game as the Saints would almost certainly test him early and often.