SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Harold Landry and Robert Spillane believe they’ll play in Super Bowl 60.
Whether that happens or not remains to be seen.
On Thursday, Spillane returned to Patriots practice after missing the previous day’s session due to an ankle injury. He was limited in his return. The opposite happened for Landry, who was limited in practice on Wednesday, but missed Thursday’s session. The veteran edge rusher has been dealing with a knee injury this season.
This week, both players said they believe they’ll play on Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks.
“Yesterday went really well,” Landry said before Thursday’s practice. “We’ll see how the rest of the week goes, but right now I’m feeling good … I would anticipate (playing).”
Spillane said on Wednesday he was confident he would play and said the same on Thursday.
“I’m still 100 percent confident,” Spillane said. “I’m going to continue to trust the people that take care of me and do everything I possibly can, day or night, and put it in God’s hands at this point. Continue to prepare as a starter and go out there today, practice and put it on the line.”
Spillane, the team’s leading tackler, missed the final four regular-season games due to a foot and ankle injury. He returned for the playoffs, making six tackles against the Los Angeles Chargers and six tackles against the Houston Texans. The veteran, however, re-injured the ankle in the AFC Championship game against the Denver Broncos.
Spillane led the Patriots with 97 tackles in 13 starts this season. If he can’t play or is limited on Sunday, the Patriots will rely on Christian Elliss, Jack Gibbens, and Jahlani Tavai to fill in.
Landry led the Patriots with 8.5 sacks this season in 15 games played. The edge rusher missed the final two regular-season games due to his knee injury. He returned for the playoffs, but was limited against the Chargers and Texans. Landry was inactive for the Patriots’ AFC Championship win in Denver.
The Patriots are the only ones dealing with an injury to someone important on their defense. On Thursday, Seahawks safety Nick Emmanwori missed practice after suffering an ankle injury on Wednesday.
Here’s Wednesday’s Super Bowl 60 injury report:
PATRIOTS
DID NOT PARTICIPATE
LB Harold Landry III – Knee
LIMITED PARTICIPATION
T Morgan Moses – Not Injury Related / Rest
T Thayer Munford Jr. – Knee
LB Robert Spillane – Ankle
FULL PARTICIPATION
DT Joshua Farmer* – Hamstring
QB Drake Maye – Right Shoulder
SEATTLE SEAHAWKS
DID NOT PARTICIPATE
S Nick Emmanwori – Ankle
LIMITED PARTICIPATION
T Charles Cross – Foot
FB Robbie Ouzts – Neck
FULL PARTICIPATION
WR Jake Bobo – Hand
QB Sam Darnold – Oblique
LB Ernest Jones – Chest
T Josh Jones – Ankle, Knee
LB Demarcus Lawrence – Not Injury Related / Resting Player
S Julian Love – Shoulder
FB Brady Russell – Hand
TE Eric Saubert – Hamstring
LB Drake Thomas – Shoulder
WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba – Not Injury Related / Resting Player
DE Leonard Williams – Not Injury Related / Resting Player
* denotes player currently on injured reserve.