Steelers Center Maurkice Pouncey Says He will be Ready for Super Bowl

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Kahnawake, QC, January 25, 2011 — The two-week break in between the conference championship games and the Super Bowl could be a huge benefit to the Pittsburgh Steelers as it might give starting center Maurkice Pouncey enough time to recover from an injury suffered in the AFC Championship Game.

Pouncey, a rookie out of Florida who was elected to the Pro Bowl this season (Super Bowl participants don’t play in the game) suffered a sprained ankle during the first drive against the Jets on Sunday. He had his left leg rolled on by New York linebacker Bryan Thomas and was immediately replaced by Doug Legursky. High ankle sprains usually require three to four weeks to recover. But Pouncey, 21, seems virtually certain he can rehab it in half the time.

“I know in my heart that I’m playing in that game,” said Pouncey, a first-round draft pick. “I’ve had the same injury before on my other ankle, and I know how to attack it.”

Pouncey added that he knew he would not return to the game after the injury. “It was the worst pain ever,” he said, adding that he suffered a similar injury as a sophomore at Florida, but returned to play the next game. He is not expected to practice until the team arrives in Dallas next week.

The Steelers didn’t miss much of a beat with Legursky as the ground attack thrived with Rashard Mendenhall gaining 121 total rushing yards as the Steelers surged to a 24-0 lead in the first half against the NFL’s third-ranked rushing defense. There were, however, two botched snaps from Legursky to QB Ben Roethlisberger, the second one coming on a fourth-quarter play from the Pittsburgh 1 that led to the Steelers’ quarterback being tackled in the end zone for a safety.

Pittsburgh opened as a 3-point underdog against Green Bay for Super Bowl XLV on Bodog’s NFL odds.

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