Colts can’t afford to lose TY Hilton after jolt he provided in Week 6

It looked dicey there in the first half, but the Indianapolis Colts ultimately handled their business against the Houston Texans on Sunday.

Carson Wentz was magnificent once again. Jonathan Taylor racked up 145 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. Darius Leonard forced two turnovers and looks close to fully recovered from his ankle injury.

Even Parris Campbell got in on the fun with a 51-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter before he left with a foot injury.

Speaking of injuries, they were probably the one downside from the Colts’ 31-3 blowout win.

While Campbell going down is a big loss in its own right, Indy fans held their collective breath when they saw TY Hilton, who was just activated off injured reserve, being attended to by trainers in the second half.

Hilton was quickly ruled out with a quad injury.

The Colts can’t afford to lose TY Hilton after he just returned.

Hilton missing time would be so deflating for a Colts offense that reaped the benefits of his return on Sunday. The four-time Pro Bowler led the way in both catches and targets (four apiece) as well as receiving yards (80).

In a game where Michael Pittman was held in check — two catches for 35 yards — after his blazing hot start to the year, Hilton emerged as Wentz’s go-to receiver.

When Campbell isn’t on the field, Hilton is really the only receiver on the roster who can take the top off opposing defenses. That’s no dig at Pittman. The 2020 second-round pick is more of an intermediate receiver who feasts on yards after the catch.

The silver lining here is that Frank Reich wasn’t overly concerned about Hilton’s quad during his postgame presser. That really makes you wonder if the 10th-year pro would’ve returned had the score not been so lopsided.

Either way, Hilton seems to have avoided a serious scare.

After he was activated off IR, we speculated whether Hilton’s return would make a big difference for the offense. That was purely based off his up-and-down 2020, when he posted seven games with fewer than 45 receiving yards.

However, Sunday’s win proved that Hilton, who consulted Andrew Luck about potentially retiring amid his recovery from neck surgery, has plenty of gas left in the tank.

The Colts’ offense can function just fine without Hilton, so it’s far from a doomsday scenario if he’s forced to miss time. However, you can tell his presence gives everyone around him, including Wentz, more confidence.

Because of that, Indy should be holding its breath that his MRI — or whatever further tests are carried out — come back clean.

Colts: Highlight of first half negated after Parris Campbell gets ruled out for game

The Indianapolis Colts' highlight of the first half was a touchdown pass from Carson Wentz to Parris Campbell ... and then the receiver left with an injury.