Colts head coach Frank Reich had a number of injury updates on Sunday with the season kicking off in two weeks against the Seattle Seahawks at Lucas Oil Stadium. A rundown:
Wide Receiver T.Y. Hilton
Hilton is being evaluated for a neck injury.
"He was experiencing some discomfort during the trip to Detroit," Reich said. "So we took scans, it was a disc issue, so that's a complicated issue. More meetings, more evaluation to come, more opinions to come. Obviously want to do our due diligence there. We got all the right people on it. We'll just continue to meet with the doctors, work with their cue and move forward accordingly.
"... He will miss some games, we don't know exactly how many. We're optimistic it's not season-ending. We don't know exactly how many games."
Reich said Hilton re-aggravated this neck issue during Wednesday's final training camp practice at Grand Park. It's surely a disappointing setback for the 31-year-old veteran, who was in the midst of a strong preseason entering his 10th year with the Colts.
"When you're talking about a guy like T.Y. Hilton, him missing games, alright, that's an obvious big blow because he's not only a great player but he's a great leader. He'll still be a great leader on this team even if he misses games because that's just who he is," Reich said. "But it's just unfortunate — I had said several times to Chris (Ballard), I really thought T.Y. was looking as good this training camp as I've seen him. He looked as fast as ever and as instinctive as ever. Even in the short time that he and Carson worked together, I could tell — instant connection. And I could feel that talking to Carson. So that's unfortunate. But the good news is we got good depth and the guys will step up."
Hilton offered up an optimistic view on his injury on Twitter shortly after Reich was finished speaking on Sunday:
Quarterback Carson Wentz and Guard Quenton Nelson
Wentz and Nelson will participate in full-team portions of practice on Monday, Reich said, which will represent the next step in each player's respective recovery from foot procedures in early August. Reich wasn't sure if either or both players would still be considered limited or full participants on Monday.
(Nelson is expected to be activated off the reserve/COVID-19 list Monday.)
The Colts will practice Monday, then have a walkthrough Tuesday before ramping up with a padded practice Wednesday and shorter practice Thursday.
Reich added the Colts need to see Wentz and Nelson be ready for Wednesday's practice "like the game is being played" that day.
"This'll be a big week to determine where those two guys are," Reich said.
Quarterback Sam Ehlinger
Ehlinger suffered a knee injury in Friday's preseason finale that turned out to be a sprain, which Reich said was "good news" that it was a sprain and not anything worse.
"So we're very happy about that, very, very happy about that as a team, very happy about that for Sam," Reich said. "So it won't be season-ending. It won't need surgery. Happy for Sam."
Reich did confirm, though, that Jacob Eason will enter the 2021 season as the Colts' backup quarterback.
Offensive Tackles Sam Tevi and Eric Fisher; Defensive End Tyquan Lewis
- Tevi tore his ACL and MCL on Friday and will undergo season-ending surgery, per Reich. "Sam was having a really good camp, was very competitive and a great teammate," Reich said. "We know he'll bounce back and I know he'll go through the rehab process like the pro he is."
- On Fisher, who was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list last week, Reich said: "Logically speaking this is a little bit of a bump in the road as far as timing. He's at a good spot physically as far as his Achilles' is concerned."
- Lewis is dealing with an injury, and his recovery "been slower than we wanted," Reich said, adding he wasn't ready to say Lewis' Week 1 availability would be in jeopardy. "We're still working at it day by day, he's working at it day by day," Reich said. "But the nature of things is it's one of those deals that you just can't rush it."
