Less than a year after tearing his Achilles, Colts outside linebacker Robert Mathis could be making his return to the football field.
Today during a press conference coach Chuck Pagano said that Mathis could indeed be ready to play in next weekend’s season opener against the Bills. This comes on the heels of team owner Jim Irsay said that fans will likely see Mathis this September, implying he would play by at least Week 2 (the Colts only home game this month).
“There’s a possibility,” Pagano said. “He’s been practicing and we’re getting him more reps. Every day he’s going through individual drills and we’re increasing the snaps he takes during the course of practice with each day. It started out with five snaps and we’ll increase that number again (next) week. We’ll just evaluate how the week goes. Rob is doing great. He’s making great progress.”
“If we let Rob (decide) he’d out there, but I’m going to make the call on that,” Pagano said. “I’m going to protect Rob from Rob and do what’s best for the team, what’s best for him. If he’s able to go then we’ll make that decision when the time comes.”
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This is encouraging considering how the coach, GM, and owner all tempered expectations for Mathis during the offseason. Irsay went so far as to say that Mathis might not return to the field until November, which is obviously not the case anymore.
During the press conference Pagano also shed light on a few more injuries. Greg Toler is listed as week-to-week with a neck injury but it doesn’t sound like he’s progressed much. With just over a week to go before Week 1, having someone listed as “week-to-week” means they are unlikely to play.
Dan Herron injured his shoulder during a kick return in last nights final preseason game. Pagano said that he wasn’t second guessing the decision to play Herron and that the play could have happened during practice. Which would be true, if the Colts did full contact kick offs in practice (they don’t). Pretty sure Pagano can go ahead and second guess that decision as Herron had his arm in a sling after the game.
The Colts will also be without Art Jones, who need surgery to speed healing on his ankle. Jones will likely be out for some time, and could end up on IR.
The first official injury report will come out next Wednesday. We’ll keep you updated on the team’s injury situation as we get closer to Week 1 against the Buffalo Bills.