Indianapolis Colts guard Quenton Nelson (back) missed Thursday’s practice.
The Indianapolis Colts have been raring and ready to go for Week 1 since, essentially, the day Philip Rivers put his signature on the dotted line. Their draft class, vaunted from Day 1, has been eager to show off their explosiveness since the second the picks were submitted.
Of course, as often seems to be the case in 2020, the team may have hit their first significant snag in months just three days before Week 1 in Jacksonville.
All-Everything guard Quenton Nelson wasn’t spotted at practice on Thursday (and it doesn’t exactly take an eagle eye to confirm whether he’s on the field or not, after all), raising questions throughout the community until the official injury report dropped.
Nelson missed Thursday’s practice entirely with a back issue, setting the Colts’ timeline off-kilter.
#Colts G Quenton Nelson didn't practice today because of a back injury, per the team's report.
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) September 10, 2020
The timing of this is less than ideal, as is the fact that Nelson’s injury didn’t just limit his efforts, but instead kept him off the practice field entirely.
This is not to mention, too, that the vaunted “Best Line in the NFL” now features three starters out of five who are dinged up enough to appear on an injury report — both LT Anthony Castonzo (oblique) and recently-extended C Ryan Kelly (knee) were both limited at practice on both Wednesday and Thursday.
Colts fans know that it doesn’t matter if you pay to keep a strong unit intact if they’re unable to remain on the field together.
Thursday's injury report for #INDvsJAX. pic.twitter.com/cp5uv5Ov3z
— Indianapolis Colts (@Colts) September 10, 2020
Of the three OL members who are dealing with pain prior to the season opener, it doesn’t seem like much of a stretch to say Nelson’s immediate future is most in doubt, considering the team has been more cautious with him than his compatriots.
Philip Rivers came to Indianapolis, in part, because of the promise he’d be kept upright long enough to be able to hurtle the pigskin down the field to a plethora of speedy receivers. If Nelson, Kelly, and Castonzo can’t play the bulk of the 2020 season, that pledge begins to waver.
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