The Indianapolis Colts came away with a big win on Sunday, but it might have had some consequences. Three key players are set to have MRIs to determine the extent of various injuries.
Reggie Wayne suffered an elbow injury on his left arm early in the Sunday’s game. Reports initially indicated that it wasn’t very serious, and Wayne wasn’t overly concerned about it after the win.
“I’m good right now,” he said. “Just kind of fell on it. I’ll go home, have an adult beverage and see how it feels in the morning.”
Chuck Pagano stated that he would be meeting with doctors tonight or tomorrow.
There appears to be real concern behind this injury and it might be the coaches fault. Wayne was clearly hurt early in the game, and pulled himself out for a few plays.
Wayne returned, but was clearly having issues. He dropped a couple of easy passes and looked like he was fighting himself on each attempt. Wayne even stared at his left hand after one drop as he flexed it and looked shocked.
Its possible that the coaches allowed him to stay in the game to extend his now 78-game stretch with three or more receptions in a game. If that is the case, then it is a huge mismanagement of a veteran player for an extremely minor “record.”
It was one year ago today that Wayne tore his ACL against the Broncos. Prior to that, he hadn’t missed a game in 11 seasons.
Wayne wasn’t alone at the doctors office on Monday either.
Linebacker Jerrell Freeman was diagnosed with a hip pointer. Pagano seemed to think that Freeman would be fine, but his status for next week might be up in the air.
Freeman finished the game and didn’t appear to suffer that much. A hip pointer is essentially an injury to the crest of the pelvis. It often results in bruising of the abdominal and oblique muscles.
The biggest issue is generally pain management. If there isn’t real structural damage, and if there was the Colts would be more worried, then it will depend on Freeman’s tolerance levels.
Trent Richardson also found himself in the MRI after tweaking his hamstring late in Sunday’s game. He insisted that he would have been able to finish the game, if the need had been there.
Hamstrings can be tricky, just ask Freeman who missed three games this season with on. If Richardson is out for any length of time, expect Dan Herron to split carries with Ahmad Bradshaw. Herron had a few to end the game against the Bengals and had five carries for 37 yards.
We’ll have more on these injuries after the Colts release the doctors results.