Steelers’ Maurkice Pouncey still expects to play in Super Bowl
After exiting Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport on crutches, Pittsburgh Steelers centre Maurkice Pouncey said that he will be playing in the Super Bowl, while talking to reporters.
"Most definitely," he said on Tuesday. "I feel positive right now."
He said that his chances of participating in Super Bowl XLV against the Green Bay Packers are “75 percent,” although league sources say that Pouncey has been ruled out of the game.
Pouncey sustained a high ankle sprain in the Steelers’ AFC Championship Game win over the New York Jets. Reports later suggested that he had a broken bone in his leg; however, he is now walking around without crutches with only a walking boot on his left
foot to offer structural integrity.
"I'm walking around pretty good today," the rookie Pro Bowl selection said. "I couldn't do anything in the cast. Now that I'm in the walking boot, there's a lot that I can do now. I'm icing it at night, and I've got to elevate it real good. Hopefully, I'm
on the bike today and maybe some pool action later."
Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin says that Pouncey is “not on a running clock” until the team’s first practice before the Super Bowl on Wednesday. Pouncey did not practice at all last week back home in Pittsburgh.
"He's [Tomlin] going to give me pretty much all the way until the last day," Pouncey said. "You'll pretty much know toward the end of the week if I'm going to play or not."
Some of Pouncey’s teammates have already made statements that assume that Doug Legursky will be starting against the Packers in place of him.
"Who said that? Tell me where they're at," Pouncey said with a laugh. "Guys don't really know, man. They have their little assumptions, but I'm hopeful I'll be ready to go on Super Bowl Sunday."
And when he says that he wants to be in the Super Bowl, he doesn’t mean that he just wants to come in for a couple of snaps.
Pouncey was the top centre in the 2010 NFL Draft, being picked 18th overall in the first round due to his great college career. He won the top honour for centres, the Dave Remington Trophy, when he was with the University of Florida Gators. He
started in all 16 games of his rookie year with the Steelers and was selected in the 2011 Pro Bowl in his rookie year. However, he did not play because of his injury and was ruled out because the Steelers advanced to the Super Bowl.
Even though Pouncey’s solitary tackle is not so impressive, it’s not the job of the centre to make tackles, rush, receive or make touchdowns. He’s the one that snaps the ball to the quarterback, in this case Ben Roethlisberger, and keeps rushers from taking
the quarterback down. He also calls play changes from the line of scrimmage after assessing the defensive formation.
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