Reports: Falcons' center Alex Mack will play in Super Bowl with fractured leg
Tough news for the Atlanta Falcons on the morning of the biggest game in franchise history: multiple sources are reporting that center Alex Mack still has a fracture in his left leg, and will attempt to play through it despite the pain.
“Pro Bowl C Alex Mack will play Super Bowl LI with fracture in left leg, sources tell ESPN,” wrote ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Twitter. “Falcons uncertain how well, or long, he’ll play.”
The Falcons had consistently downplayed the severity of Mack’s injury, which was suffered during the second quarter of the Falcons’ 44-21 win over the Packers in the NFC championship. Mack, an All-Pro center who was the Falcons’ key acquisition in the offseason, took off one play, but returned to the game until the outcome was not in doubt.
This week, Falcons head coach Dan Quinn indicated he was “concerned” but “not panicked” about the severity of Mack’s injury. Mack took off the entire week after the NFC championship.
“Getting him a chance to see him practice at full speed on Wednesday, Thursday was really important for me,” Quinn told ESPN on Saturday. “I wanted to make sure he could go do his thing and just really fly and haul. He’s such a unique player because of the quickness he plays with, so I was pleased to see that. We held him the week prior to heal and get right. I was pleased he got the work in. It was totally by design. We were going to give him half his normal reps on Wednesday and Thursday and let him do the normal Friday, and that’s how we laid out the week for him. It went exactly like we thought.”
So you’ve got dueling narratives here: Mack injured and playing on a fractured leg, Mack grinding through the pain and playing well. It’s worth noting that the latter is the Falcons’ public spin, and Atlanta did not place Mack on any injury reports prior to the game.
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Part of the reason Falcons QB Matt Ryan won the MVP this season is because he had time in the pocket to cycle through multiple decisions rather than ending up on his back courtesy of an onrushing defense, and Mack provided a significant stretch of that time. Ben Garland is the Falcons’ backup center, and Quinn indicated that Garland and Mack have been preparing together all week for the Patriots’ many looks. If Mack is unable to go at full speed or the full game, the task now gets tougher for every one of the Falcons: Garland has to step up, Ryan has to adjust, receivers have to be open faster, and everyone has to compensate for Mack’s absence.
ESPN sources indicated that this injury is so severe it could have kept Mack out of the lineup for six to eight weeks. If he plays, he’ll be part of a long list of players who fought through significant injury to show up for the Super Bowl, including Jack Youngblood (Super Bowl XIV), broken fibula; Charles Woodson (Super Bowl XXVII), surgery on cracked fibula; and Terrell Owens (Super Bowl XXXIX), fractured fibula and torn right ankle ligament.
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Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports and the author of EARNHARDT NATION, on sale now at Amazon or wherever books are sold. Contact him at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter or on Facebook.
