Colts CB Rock Ya-Sin was a last-moment inactive on Sunday, and the news isn’t getting better.
When Indianapolis Colts cornerback Rock Ya-Sin was surprisingly on the inactive list moments before the Week 2 kickoff against the Minnesota Vikings with an “illness,” everyone immediately thought the worst: is there about to be a COVID-19 outbreak among these two teams?
Ya-Sin was taken to a nearby hospital and the updates revealed he was dealing with a stomach issue and that he did not have a fever. That brought the concern levels way down.
But now, head coach Frank Reich is saying Ya-Sin’s status for Sunday against the New York Jets is unclear. How? The second-year corner missed practice on Wednesday and everything’s starting to feel a bit weird.
Wednesday's injury report for #NYJvsIND. pic.twitter.com/P452W00AOV
— Indianapolis Colts (@Colts) September 23, 2020
Not to sound ignorant, but what “stomach illness” keeps somebody out for a week? Are there any further details to relay? Why is there not a more in-depth update especially with all the concerns surrounding COVID-19?
This is all Reich had to say, via Andrew Walker of Colts.com:
"“After being evaluated at the hospital yesterday, Rock was diagnosed with a non-football-related illness. Not going to go into the details of that right now, but it’s too early to tell what his status will be for this week.”"
Coach Frank Reich said CB Rock Ya-Sin (illness) has been released from the hospital. It's uncertain if Ya-Sin will play in Sunday's game against the Jets.
— Mike Wells (@MikeWellsNFL) September 21, 2020
Some pessimists might think this is the NFL trying to hide a positive COVID test and do all the necessary internal work before revealing to the public that there’s an outbreak. Is that possible? Sure? People do bad things all the time, and we’re certainly not going to say the NFL always handles things correctly.
But perhaps more important is the legitimate concern surrounding Ya-Sin’s health. Could this be a more serious stomach issue that the team is keeping under wraps for the sake of the cornerback’s privacy? We truly don’t know, but the lack of updates, coupled with his unknown status for a game that’s four days away, really makes you wonder.
All the best to Ya-Sin as he works his way back to full strength.
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