Gronkowski might get special shoe

--Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski has told reporters he and the team are looking into developing a customized shoe Gronkowski can wear Sunday in Super Bowl XLVI to stabilize his injured left ankle.

"I think we're going over that tonight, so we will see with the training staff," Gronkowski said Wednesday.

The status of Gronkowski's ankle, which he injured in the AFC Championship Game, has been a hot topic this week in Indianapolis. Gronkowski held court at Tuesday's annual Media Day without the help of a walking boot, but only described himself as "day to day."

--The Giants have made it clear they plan on winning Sunday's game, with some players going as far as to pick out preferable matchups on the field.

Giants wide receiver Mario Manningham has said in no simple terms that he hopes wide receiver-turned-defensive back Julian Edelman is covering him in the Super Bowl. Edelman chose not to respond.

"I am not really worried about what Mario Manningham is saying right now. I am more focused on doing my job, and that is preparing right now," Edelman said. "We will see if that opportunity comes ahead of us in the game."

--Patriots head coach Bill Belichick spent 12 seasons on the Giants' coaching staff and was the team's defensive coordinator for their victories in Super Bowls XXI and XXV.

Belichick joined the Giants as the special teams coach on Ray Perkins' staff in 1979. Through the years, he coached special teams (1979 to 1982), linebackers (1980-84) and the secondary (1989-90), while also holding defensive coordinator responsibilities from 1985 to 1990.

--No one really knows what Josh McDaniels' role has been in the playoffs. The Patriots rehired their former offensive coordinator as an offensive assistant prior to the start of the postseason.

Since he's not an official coach, he didn't have to make himself available during Tuesday's annual Media Day festivities, but it's clear he's doing his part leading up to Sunday.

"He has been a great help on game days up in the press box," O'Brien said, "just by being your eyes in the sky with (personnel director) Nick Caserio and (tight ends coach) Brian Ferentz, just an added set of eyes up there."

--Tackle Sebastian Vollmer has been relatively quiet since suffering a right foot injury Nov. 27 against Philadelphia, but offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia told reporters Vollmer will make his return Sunday.

As for Vollmer himself, he's as healthy as he's been in weeks, which is good news for New England's line, though he wouldn't commit to whether or not he's playing in the Super Bowl.

"I feel all right. I was under the weather for a little while, but I think it's clearing up now," Vollmer said. "Physically, I started practicing again, I think it went well. If I'm ready to play or not, Bill and the medical staff make the decision."

--Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora and Patriots left tackle Matt Light, the player who'll be asked to block Umenyiora, have been going back and forth with one another through the media, albeit in a playful manner.

When told Light missed Media Day due to an illness, Umenyiora told him to "get well soon."

Light's response?

"He said that? Wow! I'm feeling better," Light said.

All jokes aside, this will be one of the key matchups Sunday considering what the Giants' defensive line did to Brady in Super Bowl XLII.

--Quarterback Tom Brady regrets telling a nationwide audience he "sucked" following the AFC Championship Game, but does hope to play much better Sunday.

"I wish I didn't say it because I didn't want to take away from what the team had accomplished, and certainly we had accomplished a lot to get to this point in this season, to beat a very good team in the AFC Championship, to fight back like we did," Brady said. "We were down in that game. I think we proved how we're a pretty mentally tough team.

"I feel like when you play a particular game like I did a couple weeks ago, quarterbacks never try to turn the ball over. If there is one thing that correlates more to winning games, it's turnovers. To turn the ball over two times like I did, I didn't feel like it was my best performance."

BY THE NUMBERS
19 -- The number of playoff games the Patriots have won since Robert Kraft purchased the team in 1994, the most by any NFL team during that stretch.

QUOTE TO NOTE
"I've played it over and over in my head, so many times. I've even thought about it when I was a kid, and dreaming about the Super Bowl, and now it's finally here." -- LB Jerod Mayo on playing in his first Super Bowl.

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