FORT LAUDERDALE – Indianapolis Colts DE Dwight Freeney remains a day-to-day situation.
Meanwhile, as the Colts continued preparing for Super Bowl XLIV Sunday, CB Jerraud Powers – like Freeney – missed a second consecutive day of practice, and OG Ryan Lilja missed practice with a back injury.
Freeney, who sustained an ankle injury late in the Colts’ victory over the New York Jets in the AFC Championship Game, has not practiced since.
He said Thursday he is still “day to day.”
“Every time I wake up in the morning I reassess the situation,” Freeney said. “I’m just feeling it out. It’s starting to feel a little better and it is starting to look more like an ankle now.”
Freeney said he likely will test the ankle Friday for the first time.
“I will probably go out and see what I can do tomorrow and then Saturday a lot more,” he said, adding, “I know I am moving in the right direction and that is all can ask. It is a balancing act here. You don’t want to go too hard too early. You have to make sure everything is right and safe before you go out there.”
According to a Pro Football Writer’s Association pool report, Caldwell said he did not think the injury would jeopardize Lilja’s status.
“I suspect he’ll be ready to play,’’ Caldwell told pool reporter Peter King of Sports Illustrated.
King reported that the extent of the injury to Lilja was unclear, and that Caldwell said Powers and Freeney each missed the entire practice while receiving treatment inside the Dolphins’ practice facility.
“They’re both improving rapidly,” Caldwell said of Freeney and Powers.
Caldwell also said Thursday’s session was a “typical Colts Thursday practice.” He also said the team “wasn’t as sharp as we’d like to be,’’ though King reported that “you couldn’t tell by the effectiveness of the first-team offense.
“In four nickel and two-minute offensive sessions in the last hour of practice, Peyton Manning completed 25 of 28 throws against a crew of Colt backups posing at the Saint scout,” King wrote. “His last throw in one of the two-minute sessions was a perfectly thrown rollout to Dallas Clark in the end zone. It was the second straight sharp practice for Manning, prepping for his second Super Bowl start in four seasons.”
Added Caldwell, “”If you watch us practice, the thing you notice with Peyton is the ball is not on the ground very often. The way he threw today was typical Peyton.’’
King wrote that the “highlight for the defense was an interception off scout-team quarterback Curtis Painter by linebacker Clint Session on a deflected pass off the hands of backup receiver Hank Baskett. To the cheers of his defensive mates, Session picked the ball off and ran up the left sideline.”
(On the chances of him moving to the left side to help offset the injury) “Actually, it really doesn’t matter because the way I play I do move both ways, cutting and moving both ways. I don’t think the other side would help any more, I would still have to make a move.”
