"Things are starting to look better for Colts sack master Dwight Freeney ... literally.

"It is starting to look more like an ankle now," he said Thursday.

What was a swollen grapefruit on his right foot seems to be getting down to a navel orange. By Super Bowl Sunday, the defensive end is hoping he'll reap the fruits of his round-the-clock therapy.

"I am still day to day. Every time I wake up in the morning I reassess the situation," he said. "I haven't seen the trainers yet this morning, so I haven't heard what they have to say about it. I'm just feeling it out. It's starting to feel a little better. It is definitely a little sore. I think that is the nature of the injury, but it is making progress."

Freeney plans to give the ankle, which he injured when he pulled up while trying to avoid hitting Jets QB Mark Sanchez late in the AFC Championship Game, its first test Friday and again Saturday. If he plays, he will do so without any practice this week.

Meanwhile, Raheem Brock, the man who would replace Freeney if he can't go, said yesterday he would move to the left side, with Robert Mathis, the Colts' other Pro Bowl DE, lining up in Freeney's spot on the right side. That would pit Mathis' speed and quickness against LT Jermon Bushrod, considered the weak link in the Saints' highly regarded offensive line.

"That's how we did it earlier in the year," Brock said. "Then we'll just do what we usually do. The young guys have to step up. We have nice rotation on the D-line. We rotate guys like a hockey team. Our defense, the way it is now, we come at you from different angles. I'm up at linebacker, things like that. We've got a lot of things we're going to attack with. We're not just going to sit there and play four linemen.""