Colts coach Frank Reich says 'there is a chance' punter Rigoberto Sanchez will play Sunday after cancer surgery
Indianapolis Colts coach Frank Reich said Wednesday that "there is a chance" punter Rigoberto Sanchez could play Sunday, less than three weeks after he had surgery to remove a cancerous tumor.
Sanchez, who punted against the Tennessee Titans just days after getting his diagnosis, had surgery Dec. 1. Doctors were confident at that point that the cancer hadn’t spread beyond the tumor, and the surgery was considered a success.
But Indianapolis still wasn’t expecting Sanchez to be back on the field so soon.
“I would say no,” Colts special teams coordinator Bubba Ventrone said. “He’s only a couple of weeks out of surgery and all that, so I’m not sure. I’ve never had to deal with anything like this in the past; I don’t think most of us have had to handle a situation like this.”
The 26-year-old punter returned to the team facility last week, taking part in special teams meetings and preparing to return to the field. Reich indicated last week that he thought Sanchez would be able to return this season.
Veteran Ryan Allen, who was signed to the practice squad after Sanchez’s surgery, has punted for the Colts the past two weeks, averaging 46.0 yards per punt and 36.7 net yards per kick, numbers that are both down from Sanchez’s (47.2 and 40.6, respectively).