Alex Mack

Patriots Rumors: Alex Mack To Play With Fractured Fibula in Super Bowl LI

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 6:51 p.m. ET

Fansided, Nick Ziegler/FanSided via Musket Fire

Recent New England Patriots rumors are that Atlanta Falcons center Alex Mack will be playing in Super Bowl 51 with a fractured fibula.

Recent Patriots rumors heading into the Super Bowl are not good for their opponent. According to Adam Schefter of the ESPN.com, Atlanta Falcons center Alex Mack will be playing with a fractured fibula.

Mack suffered the injury in the NFC Championship Game against the Green Bay Packers. Despite being injured, Mack is going to be giving it a go in Super Bowl 51. After missing the first week of practice leading up to the Super Bowl, Mack was able to show his head coach Dan Quinn enough to get him on the field for Sunday’s game.

“Getting him a chance to see him practice at full speed on Wednesday, Thursday was really important for me,” Falcons coach Dan Quinn told ESPN’s Ed Werder on Saturday via Schefter. “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.”

As the center, Mack has been the anchor of the offensive line for the Falcons. He has been one of the main reasons for the improvement in the unit overall. Also, he is important for the rushing attack.

Mack is part of one of the key matchups of the game against Patriots defensive tackle Alan Branch. The Patriots had one of the best run defenses in the NFL, and Branch’s success in the middle is one of the reasons why. Mack is obviously not going to be 100 percent in this game. His injury could be a huge problem for the Falcons.