Up To Date Super Bowl 46 Injury Report (As Of 1/29/12)
January 29th, 2012 by | Posted in NFL FootballOver the course of a 16-game regular season and three weeks of the playoffs, players are bound to get hurt. Injuries have kept some of the best players on teams out of the Super Bowl in the past, and here at Bankroll Sports, we are going to be keeping up to date the Superbowl 46 injury report to keep you abreast of the most important Super Bowl injury news and notes leading up to the big game.
The New England Patriots came out of the AFC Championship Game in fairly good shape. They already have six players on injured reserve, most notably LB Jermaine Cunningham and DE Andre Carter. These two players were cogs on a defense that was a bit patchwork for the entire season, and they are surely going to be missed. However, the team’s leading sack man for the year, DE Mark Anderson played in the AFC Championship Game against the Baltimore Ravens in spite of a leg injury that had him listed as questionable, and we figure that two weeks’ worth of rest will make sure that he is capable in the lineup at full strength. Update 1/29: Anderson is no longer on the injury report for the Super Bowl for the Patriots and is considered good to go on Super Sunday.
On the offensive side of the ball, QB Tom Brady never appeared on an injury report last week, but we know that he missed some practice with a shoulder injury. Speculation was that perhaps the shoulder was the cause of some of the throws that just weren’t on target against the Ravens, but that was quickly dismissed in the postgame press conference. WR Chad Ochocinco missed the AFC Championship Game after the death of his father late in the week, but he should be back to play in his first ever Super Bowl. The news might not be as good for RB Shane Vereen and T Sebastian Vollmer. Vereen is one of the backs used in the stable for the Patriots, but he really hasn’t gotten all that many looks this year. The former Cal Golden Bear has a hamstring injury, and he starts the week listed as questionable. Vollmer has missed the whole postseason with a back injury and a foot injury. He is considered questionable right now as well, but only time will tell whether it is he or T Nate Solder that is going to be starting at right tackle in the Super Bowl.
Update 1/29: Both Logan Mankins and Vollmer were back in practice this week. Mankins has a slight MCL sprain that is so slight that he hasn’t even appeared on the injury report, while Vollmer has been out of the lineup for weeks. However, it must also be noted that Solder has still gotten his reps and will certainly be involved heavily, if not exclusive at right tackle for the Pats.
Update 1/29: The other injury of note to the New England offense is that of TE Rob Gronkowski. Gronk was seen in a boot last week after the AFC Championship Game, and there is some speculation that his ankle is in worse shape than the team is letting onto. He is still listed as probable on the injury report, though we know that he had missed some practices this week in the first of the two weeks of preparation for the Super Bowl.
The New York Giants have had their share of injuries this year, especially at wide receiver. WR Domenik Hixon and WR Michael Clayton are most on injured reserve, as are DBs Michael Coe and Justin Tryon. Up front along the offensive line, Stacy Andrews and William Beatty are on IR and have missed the entire postseason.
On offense, the only man that is on the initial injury report of any note is WR Hakeem Nicks. Nicks missed some time this year with a hamstring injury, but he was taken to the locker room in the NFC Championship Game against the San Francisco 49ers with a shoulder injury. He returned to the game, and we can only assume that he will be around for the Super Bowl, but it is definitely a situation worth watching after he logged 1,192 receiving yards this season.
Defensively, there could be some problems at linebacker. This is already a unit that isn’t all that fantastic. Little used LB Mark Herzlich hasn’t been in the lineup in two months, but the bigger injury of note is the shoulder injury suffered to LB Chase Blackburn. Blackburn only played in five games this year, but he is the starting middle linebacker for this defense, and if he couldn’t give it a go, it would be a huge loss, especially against the tremendous tight ends that the Patriots are going to throw at these linebackers.
Update 1/29: The Giants remain relatively healthy on the eve of Super Bowl 46. There were seven players that didn’t practice at times this week, most notably Nicks. Few are worried that Nicks won’t be ready to go on Sunday, and the only real notable doubt at this point is whether or not Blackburn is going to be able to give it a go on Sunday. He hasn’t practiced all week long.
Loading ...
