An apparatus for receiving one or more protocol data units (PDUs) from a word aligned queue including a media access control (MAC) physical-layer (PHY) coprocessor (MPC) logically residing between a physical-layer controller and a media access controller (MAC) processor. The MPC is configured to access a reception physical-layer queue storing a burst, such that the reception physical-layer queue includes a plurality of word lines. The burst includes one or more PDUs that each occupy one or more word lines of the reception physical-layer queue, such that a particular word line stores a portion of a first PDU and a portion of second PDU. The MPC is also configured to receive from the reception physical-layer queue the first PDU including the portion of the first PDU stored in the selected word line.