The Atlanta Falcons are at a bit of a crossroads as they enter the New Jersey swamps for their Week 11 matchup against the New York Giants.

Their franchise quarterback is struggling. Their leading rusher may be on the shelf. Plus, the Giants are coming off of a bye week, and Atlanta is staring the .500 mark in the face.

It couldn’t get more pivotal than this.

And from the sound of it, running back Michael Turner is doing whatever he can to recover from that high right ankle sprain to go and find the “Jimmy Hoffa” end zone at least one more time before Giants Stadium mercifully goes the way of the wrecking ball at the end of this season.

“I don’t know (if I’ll play on Sunday), it’s only Wednesday,” Turner told reporters on a video broadcast by atlantafalcons.com. “I’m feeling pretty good. I’m doing everything it takes to get back as soon as possible.”

The Atlanta rusher, who was on his way to a sensational afternoon in Charlotte on Sunday – nine carries, 111 yards – before he got hurt midway through the second quarter, knows he has to take a pragmatic approach to returning.

“You don’t want to rush it, you want to give it time to heal up,” he said. “At the same time, you want to work it, too.”

But at the same time, he knows what’s at stake for his club, which has a tough road ahead of it with matchups against the Giants, New Orleans Saints and Philadelphia Eagles looming. He hopes to be back soon.

“I’ve never been out six weeks on an ankle sprain,” Turner said. “Don’t plan on being that long. I’m trying to get back as soon as I can.”

With Turner not running on the ankle just yet, his status against the Giants has to be iffy, at best.

Despite his best efforts, Michael Turner might have to sit out Sunday's critical road tilt against the Giants.

Atlanta can use all the help they can get, especially with Jerious Norwood looking less and less likely to be back in uniform on Sunday. Without Turner or Norwood, the Falcons would have to turn to Jason Snelling, who rushed for 61 yards in the second half against the Panthers.

The Falcons can also take solace in the fact that they have played well at the Meadowlands, against both the Giants and the Jets. The Dirty Birds have won their last five games there dating back to 1979.

Atlanta hopes that history will repeat itself two more times (against the Giants and then the Jets) before the curtain comes down on Giants Stadium. Two wins will go a long way to erasing that dreaded back-to-back winning season curse.

-- PHIL FOLEY