Matt Hasselbeck expected to practice Wednesday
By Evan Reller
Colts quarterback Matt Hasselbeck left Sunday’s game early with what was reported to be a neck and shoulder injury.
The Colts may have dodged a bullet on Sunday night. Matt Hasselbeck was reportedly dealing with multiple injuries after a few bigs hits near the end of the game. Hasselbeck was pulled with the score well out of hand and many assumed the Colts were just taking the starters out.
Speaking to the media on Monday, coach Chuck Pagano went into more detail on what happened with Hasselbeck.
"“It’s early still,” Pagano said. “I haven’t seen Matt … so I haven’t had a conversation with him to this point. But (doctors) tell me they pretty much feel like he’ll be on the practice field and ready to go on Wednesday. If we have to monitor or limit some reps, certainly we’ll do that. But we’re confident he should be all right.”"
An MRI came back negative and Pagano said that Hasselbeck has a sore neck and sustained a mild rib separation. He didn’t give any more details than that, so we are left to speculate on the extent of these injuries.
"Rib separation" is usually a costochondral issue. Happens at sternum, very painful, hurts with breathing, pressure. BUT … 1/
— Will Carroll (@injuryexpert) December 7, 2015
I have no idea if this is what Pagano means when he says Hasselbeck has rib separation. Won't pretend to understand Paganese. 2/2
— Will Carroll (@injuryexpert) December 7, 2015
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While Hasselbeck has struggled in three of his five starts, the drop off between him and Charlie Whitehurst is vast. Hasselbeck is more than capable of leading the Colts to victory against the Jaguars this week, but if Whitehurst has to play they won’t have much of a chance.
Andrew Luck is expected to up his activity level and maybe get back to practice this week. There is some speculation that Luck might be listed as active this weekend, but not start. A sort of “in case of emergency” policy, but it is too early to tell if that is even a possibility.
At 40 years old, Hasselbeck was always at higher risk for injury and obviously wasn’t expected to play much if at all this season. Posting a 4-1 record with Hasselbeck at the helm as salvaged the season, now the Colts need Luck to get healthy and rally for a run at the playoffs.