It wasn't quite Arnold in full Terminator mode, vowing in a thick accent that he would be back.

In his first public remarks after fracturing his right fibula that figures to keep him out of action for at least six weeks, however, Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick promised Tuesday that his injury will not change his fearless style of play.

"I will come back and I won't play scared," Vick said. "I will be the same Michael Vick that I was last week and that I was last year against Green Bay. I won't hold anything back. Right now I have to let myself heal and, hopefully, things will work out. Nothing will change about me. I won't play timid. I won't play scared. I promise you."

Arguably the game's most electrifying player, the third-year veteran likely will be the one to give the Falcons their first taste of consecutive winning seasons in their 37-year history.

Vick sustained the injury in the first quarter of Saturday's preseason game against the Baltimore Ravens. Scrambling out of the pocket and to his right, Vick was tackled by Ravens defensive end Adalius Thomas and immediately grabbed for his right leg.

Vick acknowledged that some of the pain has subsided but that his ankle remains sore. He allowed that, for the first time in his life, he feels somewhat helpless, as even some rudimentary chores have become daunting for him now.

He joked he couldn't even finish a shower because of the physical limitations imposed by the injury.

"I need help," conceded Vick. "I need assistance. I've never experienced this before."

On the play he was injured, Vick said that he was simply trying to make a play to break a struggling offense out of its malaise. With his receivers covered downfield, he tucked the ball away and tried to break to the outside.

Vick said he considered throwing the ball away, but that he believed he could make some kind of play that would serve as a catalyst.

"The offense wasn't moving the ball," he said. "We weren't looking good. If you put me out there for two quarters and ask me to play, I'm going to play. Bottom line. I'm not going to hold anything back. If I have to go out there for two quarters, I'm going to go out there and better myself in every aspect of my game. Throwing the ball away, that's something I should have done, but I wasn't in a position to do that with the way they ran their ends upfield. I tried to get the first down. I wanted to score. That's it."

Vick termed the injury, and the prospect of missing the first month of the regular season, "very emotional." He noted that he will be around the locker room during rehabilitation and will help Doug Johnson, his replacement, as much as he can. But part of his job now, Vick said, is to try to boost the spirits of his teammates.

Not surprisingly, he lauded Johnson, and reiterated the support already demonstrated by other Falcons.

A fourth-year veteran, Johnson has just three regular-season starts, but won a big game against the New York Giants last year, substituting for an injured Vick. That win began the Falcons' streak of eight weeks without a loss.

Vick pointed out that the Atlanta defense is a solid unit, saying he had faith the offense will be productive and that the Falcons will hold things together during his absence.

Initially, Vick said, he believed the injury was merely a bad sprain. But as the pain in his ankle began to rise, and he was unable to put weight on his foot, reality set in. He said that at that point, he knew the injury was serious and feared it might be even worse than just a fractured fibula.

Vick suggested he is a quick healer, but also noted he will be prudent in his rehabilitation.

"Hopefully it'll be less than six weeks, but six weeks is the timeframe that we're looking at right now and there's really nothing else anyone can do right now," he said. "All I can do is wait and let it heal. (The) worst-case scenario: eight weeks. I'm thinking it'll be sooner than that. It depends on how my bones recover and we still have to do some x-rays and see if they shift. If I don't need surgery, then everything should go according to plan.

"The thing is, I'm not going to rush it. I don't want to have to come back and still be nicked up and play with a sore ankle because I won't be at my best."

Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer for ESPN.com.