Favre still unsure about his ankle
The Minnesota Vikings Super Bowl hopes may be on thin ice as Brett Favre isn’t sure how well his ankle has healed. Favre underwent off-season surgery on his left ankle after injuring it during last year’s NFC Championship game against the New Orleans Saints.
The Vikings made a huge effort to bring back the 40-year-old quarterback after they came so close to reaching the Super Bowl last year. Favre threw a costly interception in the dying moments of the fourth quarter of the NFC championship game. Favre never got the ball back as the Saints kicked the game winning field goal on the first possession of overtime. During that game he suffered the ankle injury but managed to finish the game in a gutsy effort, coming up just short of a victory.
Favre said throughout the summer that his return for a 20th season would depend on the progress of the injury. Early in August, reports flooded that Favre would retire as the ankle was not healing well. Favre denied those rumours saying he was still undecided. The ultimatum of his decision came when his teammates Ryan Longwell, Jared Allen and Scott Hutchinson paid him a visit at his home in Hattiesburg Mississippi. The three asked Favre for a final answer, saying they thought he could bring them a Super Bowl. Favre said yes, mainly because he felt the team had a good chance to win a championship and he felt a strong bond with the team.
Favre has received an injection of lubricant into the damaged joint, hoping it could heal his ankle. He acknowledged that when he joined the Vikings two weeks ago that the ankle was still not fully healed. He hopes that this procedure will help the process but he still isn’t sure.
"I don't know. I have no idea, really," Favre said. "My ankle just seems to get easier to sprain. I know everyone thinks the New Orleans game killed me, but it was bad before then. Now we'll see if I can make it. My mind's telling me one thing, but my body's telling me something else."
Favre’s coming off one of the best seasons in his career. He had the NFL’s best passer rating at 107.2 and had a 33-7 touchdown to interception ratio, the best of his career. Favre’s health and production is the key to the Vikings’ Super Bowl hopes and if those become issues, those hopes may disappear fast.
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