Patriots Captain Shares Positive Injury Update

New England Patriots linebacker Robert Spillane

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Players have begun filing into the building in Foxboro, two months removed from the New England Patriots heartbreaking Super Bowl loss.

The Patriots have had a very good turnout for the optional April workouts. Team captain Robert Spillane is among those attending as he continues rehabbing from an ankle injury that ended his regular-season campaign in Week 13.

Spillane was healthy enough to return for the playoffs, but was not at 100%. He spoke to the media on Tuesday and informed fans of his offseason recovery.

"No surgery," Spillane told reporters. "Take care of myself. The guys upstairs in the weight room also take care of me. So we've had a great plan and just continue to progress."

Spillane praised the linebacker room, many of whom are on different teams now, for stepping up in his absence.

"Just so proud of guys stepping up behind me. Obviously, you want to do everything you can to get back out on the field," Spillane said. "You hate missing snaps. You hate feeling like you're letting your team down every time you're not on the field. But I'm just really proud of the guys that stepped up and made big plays when it came to (me) getting healthy."

The depth chart looks very different now than it did when Spillane last put a helmet on, but his sentiment remains.