INDIANAPOLIS — Monday was another one of those "good news, bad news" kinds of days on the injury front for the Indianapolis Colts.
We'll take care of the good news first: cornerback Rock Ya-Sin, who has missed the last two games with a non-football illness, is expected to return to practice this week, head coach Frank Reich told reporters.
The bad news: Reich said rookie wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. is expected to miss several weeks of action after undergoing surgery for a lower leg injury suffered in Sunday's Week 3 victory over the New York Jets.
Pittman Jr. suffered the injury in the second quarter of Sunday's game and was initially ruled questionable to return. He was able to get back onto the field at the 10:28 mark of the third quarter, however, and finished the game with three receptions for 26 yards.
Reich said Pittman Jr. didn't really feel the effects of his injury — which was later diagnosed as compartment leg syndrome — until after the game. He called the team's medical staff and they determined the best course of action was for him to immediately undergo surgery to relieve the pressure in his leg.
"I don't know any more of the details about the surgery other than I know it went well, I know we're very optimistic about him healing and getting back before too long, but the exact timetable, just not ready to put a number of weeks on that yet," Reich said of Pittman Jr.
Pittman Jr.'s injury means the Colts will have to make major adjustments at the wide receiver position for a second straight week after top slot receiver Parris Campbell went down with a knee injury Week 2 against the Minnesota Vikings; Campbell has since been placed on IR, though the team isn't yet ruling him out for the rest of the year.
Others at the wide receiver position beyond starter T.Y. Hilton that will be expected to step up in Pittman Jr.'s absence include Ashton Dulin, Daurice Fountain, Zach Pascal and Dezmon Patmon. The Colts also have two wide receivers — DeMichael Harris and Marcus Johnson — on their practice squad if needed.
Ya-Sin, meanwhile, was a last-minute addition to the Colts' inactives list just before kickoff of their game against the Vikings. Reich said the second-year cornerback was taken to a local hospital for evaluation before being diagnosed with a non-football illness. Ya-Sin did not practice last week and also missed Sunday's win over the Jets.
In other Colts injury news, Reich confirmed today that tight end Trey Burton (calf) and defensive tackle Sheldon Day (knee), both of whom were placed on IR at the beginning of the season, are expected to return to practice soon, with the possibility of being brought back to the active roster. Once a player returns to practice from IR, a team has 21 days to decide whether to put them on the active roster or revert them to IR for the remainder of the season.
