Dwight Freeney hopeful of making Super Bowl despite injury

Dwight Freeney missed practice again on Wednesday, but the Indianapolis Colts' leading pass rusher remains hopeful of playing in Sunday's Super Bowl against the New Orleans Saints. Freeney tore a ligament in his right ankle during the final minutes of the Colts' 30-17 win over the New York Jets in the AFC Championship game and has not been able to train with his team-mates since, but said that the joint is beginning to feel stronger. "It's better than yesterday, and yesterday was better than the day before," said Freeney, who recorded 13.5 sacks in the regular season despite various injuries limiting him to just nine starts. "It's a slow progression right now, but that's where it is. Every morning I wake up, and it feels a little better. "I never really worry. This kind of thing is not in my hands. I just continue to focus my energy on positive things and getting my ankle right. It's hard for me to put numbers on it, percentages on it, of where exactly it is, but it's definitely getting there." On top of the work he was already doing with the team's physios and regular sessions in a hyperbaric chamber, the defensive end said he had been walking barefoot on the beach outside his team's hotel in order to build up strength. "Sometimes walking is good because it keeps things fluid," Freeney said on Wednesday, when he and cornerback Jerraud Powers were the only Colts to miss practice. "You hear people say he should be in a boot or something. But sometimes it can get stiff, and you've got to get that motion back in the ankle. It gets the blood flowing, so I've been walking around barefoot and in the sand." It seems likely that even if Freeney can play, it will be in a limited role and several team-mates made reference to the fact that until he returns to practice they will work on the assumption that he cannot play. Powers, like Freeney, is currently listed as 'questionable' for Sunday's game on the official injury report, but insisted today that "there's no doubt in my mind that I'll be out there Sunday". The only Saints player not to practice was back-up running back Lynell Hamilton, who also has an ankle injury. A number of others, including tight end Jeremy Shockey, linebacker Jonathan Vilma, defensive ends Bobby McCray and Will Smith and cornerbacks Randall Gay and Malcolm Jenkins, were limited in practice but all are expected to play against the Colts. "I think we're ahead of schedule with just about everything we're trying to get done," said the Saints head coach Sean Payton at the end of his team's training session. "Even the buses and everything are running on time or ahead of schedule."