NASHVILLE -- Logan Mankins could have been anywhere in the world and he was going to get asked about that knee.
It just so happened he was in Tennessee, where New England beat the Titans 34-13, when the report came out that he played the entire 2011 season on a torn ACL.
Yes, 16 games and the playoffs.
He at least had to be asked if it was true.
"Yeah . . .I don't want to get into last season too much," Mankins told reporters. "I'm kind of set on celebrating this win with the team. Maybe next week we can get into that."
There was enough to be happy about down there in Tennessee. New England's mercurial offensive line held up well on Sunday. And Mankins, who came off the PUP list August 12, didn't appear troubled by the knee one bit.
"I don't think we had any mental breakdowns today," he said. "I'm sure we had a few physical, but that's going to happen when you're playing against good players. It went smooth out there. I felt comfortable."
Mankins pulled out the handle on his rollaway suitcase as soon as questions moved from the Titans back to his knee. So the story was left for another day. All except for one question, anyway.
Did the Patriots know what Mankins was dealing with all that time?
"No one knew," he smiled.And was gone.