INDIANAPOLIS —Indianapolis Colts head coach Frank Reich on Monday held a conference call with local reporters, in which he discussed putting tight end Eric Ebron on injured reserve, signing tight end Ross Travis and injury updates for wide receivers T.Y. Hilton, Devin Funchess, Parris Campbell and running back Marlon Mack.
Here are portions of that conversation, which you can listen to in its entirety below:
On the decision to place tight end Eric Ebron on injured reserve with ankle issues:
Reich: "He came in last week; it had flared up on him. Prior to that, I mean, really, he had had no problems with it as far as practice or play, and then when it flared up on him last week it became a little bit of an issue, so we ended up having to make the move we did today."
On what the Colts' offense is missing with Ebron out the rest of the season:
Reich: "I mean, obviously Eric's been a good playmaker for us. He had the big year last year, and he was always a threat. A very talented tight end with a lot of speed, so we'll miss that."
On how Ebron's ankle issues evolved:
Reich: "Before last week, I was not aware that there was anything significant. I know there was a time in training camp, before training camp, I think, he had a scan. To the best of my knowledge, the scan was fine — I'm not saying it was 100 percent clean, but it was nothing that was limiting him in practice, it didn't limit him in training camp, it didn't limit him in the season or for practice. And then last week sometime, I don't know if it flared up in practice or if it was a result from a previous game, but that's really the first time that it was kind of flared up to the point where it affected him as far as practice."
On if Ebron could've tried to wait a week or two and re-evaluate:
Reich: "You know, we talked to Eric through it. This is the decision that Eric, he just felt like he was out of position with how he was feeling to him, that this was what he had to do."
On if Ebron or the team made the ultimate decision to place him on IR:
Reich: "Well, you know, we talked it through. Obviously we all talked it through together, we all had individual conversations — I had conversations with Eric, Chris had conversations with Eric, doctors — and then at the end of the day this was what was thought to be the best decision."
On what the signing of free agent tight end Ross Travis provides the Colts' offense:
Reich: "Ross has some of the same skillset that Eric has. Obviously not as accomplished as Eric in his career, but can run and move like Eric in many ways and built similar. So we feel good — Ross knows the system; we feel like he'll be able to plug back in and provide some playmaking ability there for us."
On the possibility of brining wide receiver Devin Funchess back to the active roster from IR this week:
Reich: "Yeah, we're gonna monitor him as we go. You know, we've already talked about his injury a bunch; I mean we've gotta make sure that thing's 100 percent healed, so we'll monitor it this week and see how it goes."
On if T.Y. Hilton had any sort of setback with his calf injury playing last Thursday night against the Houston Texans, or if he seems good to go:
Reich: "Yeah, I don't think he had any setback. I mean, he did feel a little tightness in the game, but nothing that was a major setback. I just think it was an indication that — you know, I think he knew that he wasn't all the way back, but to his credit, in his workouts coming up to the game that he felt good enough that he knew that he could give us a limited snap count; the docs felt good about that. We intentionally didn't take him vertical down the field too many times to put that kind of volume on his calf. And he wanted to be out there. I mean, he was fighting tooth and nail to get out there and to make his presence felt. I do think that helped us. I think it helped us run the ball; they know he's on the field, they know his big-play ability, and so his presence there was in many ways a lift to us. I know we didn't win the game and we didn't make the plays that we needed to make to win that game, but he still had a very positive influence as far as our team was concerned."
On if running back Marlon Mack could possibly return this week from a fractured hand:
Reich: "Yeah, no, he won't go."
On if wide receiver Parris Campbell could possibly return this week from his own fractured hand; he was labeled as limited in practice last week but was inactive against the Texans:
Reich: "We're monitoring him. There is a possibility. We're not there yet."
