Opinion: T.Y. Hilton injured? Preseason from hell continues for Colts
INDIANAPOLIS – Colts coach Frank Reich sat down and started talking immediately, and you just know he was saying something brilliant. He’s a finance major from Maryland, a pastor, a thoughtful and gifted public speaker, and clearly he has something to say late Sunday afternoon on this Zoom call with local reporters.
Alas …
“Hey coach,” someone from the Colts public relations staff suggested softly, “need you to unmute.”
“Oh,” Reich said, just as gently. “Sorry.”
Hey, it’s been that kind of preseason for the Colts. Things haven’t gone according to plan, starting with Reich missing the first week of camp after testing positive for COVID-19.
Since then we’ve seen a piece of chipped bone in Carson Wentz’s left foot, an injury that had gone unnoticed since high school, choose Wentz’s second practice as the Colts’ franchise quarterback to make itself known. We’ve seen left tackle Eric Fisher test positive for the coronavirus and left guard Quenton Nelson join him on the NFL’s Reserve/COVID-19 list as a close contact. We’ve seen a third starter on the offensive line, Ryan Kelly, suffer a hyperextended elbow.
The Colts, meanwhile, have muddled through this preseason with perhaps the lowest vaccination rate in the NFL. Many of their best players remain unvaccinated.
Frank Reich beginning a conference call on mute? It could be worse.
Like, when he unmuted himself and started talking.
T.Y. Hilton injured on plane
“He’s being evaluated for a neck injury,” Reich was saying in his opening remarks Sunday, referring to Colts receiver T.Y. Hilton. “We’re optimistic it’s not season-ending.”
That’s what passes for good news these days for the Colts: T.Y. Hilton, the most productive member of an otherwise young, unproven receiving corps, has an injury that probably won’t end his season. The injury happened the way all the Colts news happens: weirdly. Hilton began experiencing discomfort in his neck on the team’s flight to Detroit, leading to tests that showed the problem.
“A disc issue,” Reich said. “Complicated issue.”
Of course it is. Wentz plays nine seasons for North Dakota State and the Philadelphia Eagles with a piece of bone chipping loose from his left foot, but it doesn’t come unmoored during any of the 110 games he played in college or the pros. Nope, it happens on his second practice with the Colts. It’s a weird injury with a weird prognosis – could be out five weeks, could be out 12 weeks – something you don’t see every day.
This being the Colts, we saw it the very next day. Quenton Nelson was diagnosed with the same stupid injury with the same stupid timeline for recovery: 5-12 weeks.
Now it’s Hilton’s turn. He has a neck injury, and more. It’s a complicated neck injury. What in the name of Peyton Manning is going on here?
On the other hand, the Colts did receive some good injury news this weekend, about rookie quarterback Sam Ehlinger’s knee. Did you see Ehlinger limp off the field Friday night at Detroit? Turns out, he won’t need surgery. It won’t end his season. He’ll miss upwards of half the season, but this is another example of good news at the Colts complex.
“Only a sprain for Sam,” Reich said. “Very, very happy about that as a team. Very happy for Sam.”
Carson Wentz/Quenton Nelson are OK, Frank Reich's smart, my name's dumb
Now then, there was some really good injury news coming out of Reich’s Sunday conversation with local reporters. If you’re wondering why you’re reading about nothing but health issues here, maybe you’ve not been paying close enough attention to the Colts this preseason. All they’ve had are health issues! The only issue approaching the voluminous medical news in terms of interest was the competition between Jacob Eason and Sam Ehlinger to replace Carson Wentz in the starting lineup.
And that competition was pointless for two reasons. One, Ehlinger is injured now. And, two, Carson Wentz will start the opener against the Seattle Seahawks on Sept. 12.
Oh, right. Meant to tell you earlier (oops?): Carson Wentz will play against Seattle.
In journalism circles, that’s called burying the lead. Although, in journalism circles, we spell it “lede.” Why the silly spelling? No idea, but it’s probably a stupid story, like the reason my names are spelled “Gregg” and “Doyel.” My dad figures someone wrote down our family name incorrectly at Ellis Island, when the first Doyle – er, Doyel – washed ashore from Europe.
As for Gregg, well, that story’s even worse. A newspaper got it wrong when I was a high school senior named Greg, calling me “Gregg” when I made the all-state baseball team – subtle brag there, right? – and a pretty classmate told me “Gregg” looked cool. Been Gregg ever since. Yes, my name is a newspaper typo. I’m aware of the irony.
So anyway …
Buried the lede there. But you’ve known Carson Wentz would play in the opener since his first day back to practice last week, darting around the field at Grand Park, throwing missiles all over the place. Told you then he’d play the opener. Reich wouldn’t say so last week, and he wouldn’t even say so Sunday, though he did say Wentz will take part in a full practice Monday for the first time, and is on track to go into next week as a full participant. From there, sure, he’ll start Sunday.
Reich said the same thing about Quenton Nelson, by the way: Full practice this week, on track for starting the opener, so forth and so on. That’s more lede-burying by me, but let’s not focus on that. Let’s get back to Frank Reich on Sunday, sitting down after 18 months of video calls and even so, hundreds of Zoom chats later, forgetting to unmute himself.
It’s great, as was his chastened reaction to the news – Hey Coach, need you to unmute – because this will be one of the smartest guys in any room he enters. He doesn’t act that way, might not even think that way, but take it from me: The man’s got a good brain. He was an All-Academic ACC pick at Maryland, where he was tabbed for the school’s Omicron Delta Kappa order or team or club or whatever they call that thing for academic and leadership excellence; you can tell I didn’t make it at Florida. Reich’s a gifted speaker, when he’s unmuted, but he’s actually better with numbers.
And if he challenges you to a board game, call an Uber and get the hell out of there. The man plays Three Level Chess, which is three-dimensional and weird and makes my head hurt just thinking about it, and I watched “The Queen’s Gambit” this summer on Netflix! Three Level Chess is so complex, the only two people I’ve ever known to play it are the Vulcan from Star Trek, and the quarterback from Maryland. True story.
So is the story Reich told us, eventually, on Sunday about T.Y. Hilton’s neck injury. Of course Hilton aggravated a pre-existing neck issue on a plane trip, and will miss several games because of it. The Colts are optimistic it won’t be season-ending, but it’s “complicated,” Reich said, and will require “more meetings, more evaluations (and) more opinions.”
This has been a Three Level Preseason for the Colts, three-dimensional and weird. Makes my head hurt just thinking about it. The regular season can’t get here fast enough.