New York ? Michael Vick is expected to start against New England this week after an MRI confirmed Monday that he did not seriously injure his right knee Sunday in Atlanta’s victory over Minnesota.

“It confirmed that it was just a mild sprain of his MCL, and he is day-to-day,” coach Jim Mora said.

Vick was injured when Minnesota rookie defensive end Erasmus James knocked him to the ground and fell on his leg in the second quarter of Atlanta’s 30-10 victory.

Matt Schaub replaced Vick and played the rest of the game. The Falcons had a two-touchdown lead when Vick walked slowly off the field with a slight limp.

Warrick Dunn’s 37-yard run on Atlanta’s next possession put the Falcons ahead 21-0 and all but eliminated the chance that Vick would return.

“Just because I got injured doesn’t mean that my confidence level is going to go down,” Vick said. “The same thing happened to me against Seattle, and I came back and had one of my best games against Buffalo. Injury doesn’t scare me.”

In other NFL injury news, Tampa Bay’s Carnell “Cadillac” Williams may be limited in practice this week because of a sore hamstring and sprained foot.

Coach Jon Gruden stressed Monday it was too early to say if the rookie running back will play against the New York Jets.

“If he’s ready to go, he’ll play,” Gruden reiterated.

Williams sat out the fourth quarter of Sunday’s 17-13 victory over the Detroit Lions after he “felt something tweak” in his left hamstring earlier in the second half.

He was held to 13 yards on 11 attempts after rushing for an NFL-leading 434 yards the previous three weeks.

Gruden conceded the Bucs are “a little concerned” about what the coach described as a mild hamstring injury, as well as lingering discomfort in Williams’ left foot, which the running back sprained on Sept. 18.