The Indianapolis Colts are just over two weeks away from a real football game. Like many teams, the Colts have more than a few players dealing with nagging injuries as the preseason seems to claim a new victim every week.
The Colts have yet to lose a player to a catastrophic injury, but plenty of players have been nicked up and missed games. The Colts are at St. Louis to face the Rams on Saturday and we have a good idea of the players who will be missing that game.
Cornerback Greg Toler was forced to come out of last week’s game against the Bears due to a neck injury. While early this week he was listed as day-to-day, coach Chuck Pagano downgraded him to week-to-week on Thursday.
“As you go through and the doctors evaluate, that’s where he’s at right now,” Pagano said. “He’s week-to-week.”
The “week-to-week” designation generally means a player will be out for 2-3 weeks in Indianapolis.
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That likely means we won’t see Toler again until the regular season, which isn’t a bad thing at all. It will give the younger players a shot at more game experience and prevents the chance of further injury to Toler.
While Toler has been a bit injury prone in his career, it usually extends to his leg so a neck injury can be troubling. The Colts have had a lot of bad luck with neck injuries in recent history too. Starting with Peyton Manning in 2011 and then Ahmad Bradshaw two years ago.
While Toler is at times a liability, he’s still better than a lot of the team’s other options as the depth is a bit thin at corner.
Guard Hugh Thornton is still out as he recovers from a knee injury. He was another player that was listed as week-to-week following the first preseason game and likely won’t play this weekend against the Rams.
Rookie wide receiver Phillip Dorsett has been out this week as he too recovers from a knee injury. It looked bad when he went down against the Bears, but he isn’t expected to miss much time. That said, he’s unlikely to play in Week 3 of the preseason.
Tight end Coby Fleener tweaked his ankle in joint practice with the Bears and hasn’t practiced since late last week. He won’t play Saturday, since there is no reason to risk further injury. He should be back to work by next week.
We’ll keep you updated on the injury status of these players as the preseason progresses.