ARLINGTON, Texas -- Pittsburgh Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey shares his coach's optimism that he'll be cleared for Super Bowl XLV, saying Tuesday he has a 75 percent chance of playing Sunday against the Green Bay Packers.
Pouncey, who sustained what he termed a high left-ankle sprain during the Steelers' AFC Championship Game victory Jan. 23, said the ankle is out of a cast and he believes he will "most definitely" play Sunday.
"My mind right now is stuck on playing," Pouncey told NFL Network analyst Deion Sanders during Super Bowl Media Day at Cowboys Stadium. "I'm preparing the right way for the Green Bay Packers, and we'll see how it goes."
NFL Network insider Albert Breer reported earlier this week that Pouncey also has a broken bone in the ankle.
"I'm definitely not going to count that young man out," Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. "I don't think anything he's done this year would lead you to believe that he's incapable of showing up. So we're going to give him every opportunity to do so."
Pouncey wore a walking boot and said his treatment is going well.
"I'm doing a lot of ice and stuff," Pouncey said. "Hopefully, I'll be on the bike today moving around a lot better."
Pouncey didn't practice last week, and Tomlin has said his center is "not on a running clock" until Wednesday -- the team's first workout of the week before the Super Bowl.
Pouncey expects to practice Thursday or Friday.
"He's going to give me pretty much all the way until the last day," Pouncey said, according to The Associated Press. "You'll pretty much know toward the end of the week if I'm going to play or not."
"Who said that? Tell me where they're at," Pouncey said with a laugh. "Guys don't really know, man. They have their little assumptions, but I'm hopeful I'll be ready to go on Super Bowl Sunday."
And that doesn't mean just for a few plays.
"If I'm going to play, I want to start," he said. "I don't want to be the 'Let's put the injured guy in at a backup position' or something like that. ... I'm trying everything possible, man. If anybody's got any other options for me, I will go ahead and listen to them."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
