BY NICK ST. DENIS
Last week, reports surfaced that New England Patriots linebacker Brandon Spikes' recent injured reserved designation was due to his being late to a meeting.
Whether or not that was true, and there were some reports disputing the notion, Spikes was battling a knee ailment but had played in all 16 regular season games. He planned on fighting through it in the postseason, as well.
The veteran defender's agent, Gary Uberstine, took to a press release Monday to clear things up. Or, at least try to.
"The team's decision to place Brandon on injured reserve was not a mutual decision, nor need it be. Brandon had every intention to keep playing throughout the playoffs, despite the pain he was experiencing throughout the season," said Uberstine, CEO of Premier Sports & Entertainment, via WEEI.com.
"We never had a single conversation with the Patriots in which they threatened to release him if he didn't accept the Injured Reserve designation. Spikes has been a great teammate, and nobody can question the passion with which he plays the game, or how important he has been to the Patriots' success.
"Although he is disappointed that he won't be able to line up alongside his teammates this weekend against the Broncos, he won't let these rumors serve as a distraction and has no intention of making any further comment whatsoever concerning any of these issues."
Rookie linebacker Jamie Collins had shown a lot of progress toward the end of the season and was a standout Sunday in Spikes' absence, so regardless of what went into the Spikes situation, the Patriots probably feel a little better about it than they did a week ago.
Spikes is slated for free agency in March.
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