Linebacker Robert Spillane didn’t practice Wednesday due to an ankle injury, but the 30-year-old team captain says he’s doing everything within his power to be ready for Super Bowl XL.
The big game is just three days away.
“I’m doing everything I can, trusting the process, working with my trainers, day and night,” Spillane told WEEI.com Thursday afternoon. “And they obviously pour into me as I’m pouring into this thing. So, preparing as a starter doing everything I need to do, and we’ll see how it goes.”
He also told media the absence from practice was a planned day off to recover.
Spillane isn’t the flashiest player on the field, but he is critical to New England’s defense. He’s the green dot player, the designated defensive teammate who communicates with coaches from the field. He missed four games from early December to early January with a foot injury, then appeared to injure himself in the AFC Championship game against Denver.
The Patriots’ defense is undeniably different when they have available Spillane, Milton Williams, and linebacker Harold Landry III. Landry was limited in practice Wednesday with a knee injury.
Spillane expressed confidence in the group’s ever-growing closeness, and said they all have eyes on Seahawks superstar Jaxon Smith-Njigma.
“You have to identify him every time he breaks the huddle.
You have to identify, where is 11? Get your eyes to him, make a mental note of it, and understand that that’s where the ball is going. He [Sam Darnold] loves looking at 11 and it shows, him being the most-targeted receiver in the league.
Obviously, he's the main priority for us, along with the run game, as it always is,” he said.