Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports
More bad news came out of the Indianapolis Colts camp on Sunday. Wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey was injured in a drill and limped off the field. The official diagnosis of the injury was a knee sprain. Colts officials didn’t go into detail to how severe the sprain is, but did say that he would be out. They didn’t announce how long they will be without the newly-acquired receiver.
With him being out, the question arises: what does this mean for the team’s hopes for 2013?
Entering training camp, most had the Colts on pace for another 10-plus win season and a second straight birth into the AFC playoffs. A big reason for that was because this young core got a year older, and they signed many new faces to help contribute immediately. One of them was Heyward-Bey.
This injury could hurt Indianapolis a little bit if he’s out for an extended period of time in the regular season. The Colts were already thin at receiver with the loss of LaVon Brazill for the first four games of the regular season due to a failed drug test. They were searching for a fifth to fill out the active roster when the preseason ends. That spot will like go to Griff Whalen after the first week of camp.
So what does that mean?
If the worst-case scenario happens where Heyward-Bey misses time, then Indianapolis should be okay for the first four games of the season. They would be 2-2 at worst and 3-1 at best without Heyward-Bey. After that, they get Brazill back, but he’s no Heyward-Bey. That’s where troubles could happen.
Indianapolis hosts a very tough Seattle Seahawks team, then travels to San Diego on Monday night in the following week. After that, they have two more prime time games at home against the Denver Broncos and go on the road for a divisional showdown with the Houston Texans.
If Heyward-Bey misses the first half of the year, they could lose all those games in that stretch without weapons to help Andrew Luck, Reggie Wayne and T.Y. Hilton.
Obviously, time will tell how long he’s out, but Colts fans have to hope for a speedy recovery to give help to a position they already were thin in.
