National Football League roundup

[February 06, 2017]  Feb 5 (The Sports Xchange) - Pro Bowl center Alex Mack was active and in the starting lineup for the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl LI against the New England Patriots on Sunday.

Mack did not practice this week because of a left fibula injury, reportedly a chip fracture, which could limit a player considered vital to the Falcons' zone-running scheme.

Mack is light on his feet and essential to a series of running plays in which he is called upon to pull or reach linebackers to seal lanes for running backs Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman.

Mack, 31, is in his first season with the Falcons and has played every game of his NFL career with the exception of an 11-game run in 2014 with a broken left leg.

Mack did not take the field before Sunday's game when the Falcons warmed up two hours before scheduled kickoff.

Wide receiver Michael Floyd was inactive for the Patriots, who listed the same players who did not play in the AFC Championship Game on their pregame inactive list.

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Veteran quarterback Tony Romo's future with the Dallas Cowboys may be up in the air but he is reportedly determined to play in 2017 and has no plans to retire.

Romo has already received strong interest from television networks that want him to work as a color analyst but he wants to play, league sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter.

Romo, who turns 37 in April, is owed $14 million next season and carries a $24.7 million cap hit should the Cowboys decide to keep him. A team trading for Romo would be responsible for his full 2017 salary.

Romo missed 12 games in 2015 with a broken collarbone and then missed the beginning of this season after a preseason back injury, losing his starting job to rookie sensation Dak Prescott, who led the Cowboys to a 13-3 record and the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs.
 

Romo missed the Cowboys' first 15 games and appeared in only one game, completing 3 of 4 passes for 29 yards and a touchdown in a 27-13 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Jan. 1 in the regular-season finale.

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Oakland Raiders linebacker Aldon Smith, currently serving more than a year-long suspension for multiple violations of the NFL's substance-abuse policy, is reportedly expected to be reinstated to the league next month.

Smith, who re-applied for reinstatement in late October, will join the Raiders in March, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport.

Smith missed the last 23 game since he was suspended from the NFL on Nov. 17, 2015.

Smith was eligible to be reinstated in November, but the NFL and commissioner Roger Goodell turned down the request at the time.

Smith has a long history of legal troubles dating to 2012 when he played for the San Francisco 49ers. (Editing by Andrew Both)

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