The St. Louis Battlehawks aren’t saying the San Antonio Brahmas targeted quarterback AJ McCarron’s injured ankle in last week’s United Football League game. But McCarron said if you saw the game, you know the answer.

“Anybody with a set of eyes could watch the game and make their own judgment,” McCarron said. “It’s football. If certain guys want to play the game that way, that’s on them. All I can worry about is what I can control, and going to go from there. But I think if you watch the game, it’s pretty obvious.”

The Battlehawks don’t have to tiptoe around the topic. San Antonio safety Teez Tabor is tackling it head-on.

“You’re the quarterback,” Tabor told Greg Luca of the San Antonio Express-News. “If you don’t play, we win, so the object of the game is for you not to play.”

McCarron sustained an ankle injury in St. Louis’ 30-26 loss to the Birmingham Stallions on May 11. Although McCarron took every snap in that game, the former Alabama All-American missed the next two contests before returning for Saturday’s 13-12 victory over San Antonio in the regular-season finale.

Because of that outcome, the Battlehawks and Brahmas will square off in St. Louis instead of San Antonio on Sunday in the XFL Conference Championship Game. The winner advances to the United Football League Championship Game on June 16 in St. Louis.

Battlehawks coach Anthony Becht took issue with Tabor’s torpedo tackle of McCarron as he ran out of bounds on a 6-yard scramble to the San Antonio 7-yard line in the second quarter.

“I played this game for a long time,” Becht said. “I know things happen. I think two specific plays that you probably think about – the out-of-bounds tackle. If anybody can find me a play in the NFL where a player shoots himself to the lower legs of the quarterback going out of bounds, please show me that video. Let me know where that is. …

“Listen, AJ’s a tough player. He’s going to get sacked. If he gets sacked 10 times or gets hit 10 times, it’s fine. But I think it was obvious there were maybe two examples in that game. Listen, they’re duly noted, I guess, is all I can say as far as when they occurred, and, hopefully, we have better control of those situations as we move forward to the rest of our season.”

On the first play of the fourth quarter, San Antonio outside linebacker Garrett Nelson sacked McCarron for a 6-yard loss. As McCarron tried to hop up, Nelson suddenly latched on to McCarron’s leg, possibly thinking the play was still live. At any rate, he had the wrong leg. Nelson bear-hugged the right leg, and McCarron has an injured left ankle.

“I felt great first half, and then second half I didn’t feel great,” McCarron said. “But I got some treatment and everything this week, and I think it will help.”

Despite what the Battlehawks might think of the Brahmas’ intentions, McCarron suffered “no setbacks” on Saturday, Becht said.

“AJ got out of the game not inducing any more injury than he already has, which is positive,” Becht said on Thursday, “so we got through and accomplished our goals there. …

“Obviously, the wear and tear and movement, he hadn’t done that for several weeks, so that was going to be there. But it eased down quicker. He’s getting a lot of treatment, he works fine and he’ll have to tolerate that pain threshold throughout the game. Look, modern medicine, there’s things that we can do to help support that. We’ll take advantage of those things, and it’ll be better. I think there was a plan to see what it felt like for four quarters, and now we know what those areas are throughout the game and now we can adjust, so training staff, doctors can do the proper things so he can get through a four-quarter game and feel great.”

Becht said McCarron’s injury isn’t going to heal before the end of the season. McCarron said he had no intention of sitting out, even if playing hurt prolongs the healing process and adversely affects his chances of returning to the NFL for the 2024 season.

“I want to try to win a championship, and that’s all I’m worrying about,” McCarron said. “… I signed up for it, so I’m not going to bail on my teammates. I think the team needs me, so play through it and then we’ll deal with whatever happens after at that point.”

The Brahmas and Battlehawks meet at 6 p.m. CDT Sunday at the Dome at America’s Center in St. Louis. FOX will televise the game. Regardless of who wins this time around, the winner will play in St. Louis for the UFL championship on June 16.

Tabor said it will be more of the same for McCarron on Sunday.

“We’re coming Sunday, too, so tell him: Wrap it up,” Tabor said. “The defense knows. Everybody knows. Get down, right? Just play football. Play in between the game, play between the rules, and you’ll be safe. Slide, get down, run out of bounds, throw the ball away. Be safe. No harm, no foul.”

In addition to last week’s game, St. Louis and San Antonio also played on April 14, when the Battlehawks posted a 31-24 victory at the Alamodome. That’s the only game this season in which an opponent scored more than 19 points against the Brahmas.

“It’s what you play the game for,” McCarron said. “It’s a chance to make it to the championship. We’ve faced San Antonio twice. We know them; they know us. It’s just going to come down to what team plays the best game as a whole, and it’ll be a good one, like it’s been in both games this year. It’s all about making plays, and when we get those opportunities, we got to make them.”

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.