August is supposed to be a time of hope for NFL teams. The Colts should be full of something else: fear. Despite some smart offseason personnel moves from new GM Chris Ballard, Indy is taking major hits to its roster throughout the course of training camp and the preseason.
The latest is an injury to center Ryan Kelly, who is going to need surgery to repair a "bone defect" in his foot that will cause him to miss between six and eight weeks, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN and Stephen Holder of the Indianapolis Star.
News: Ryan Kelly needs surgery. Rest didn't work per Pagano.
— Stephen Holder (@HolderStephen) August 17, 2017
Colts C Ryan Kelly scheduled to undergo surgery on a bone defect in his foot Friday that is expected to sideline him 6-8 weeks, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 17, 2017
This is, unequivocally, terrible news for the Colts. Indy is already in a very bad spot this offseason because of a botched handling of Andrew Luck's shoulder injury. Luck injured his shoulder back in 2015 but the Colts and Luck put off surgery until this offseason.
It's very obvious that keeping him on the field exacerbated the injury, not to mention the lacerated kidney he suffered back in 2015. Having surgery this offseason was the right move, but the Colts have been approaching this injury with a tremendous amount of nonchalance.
Read the tea leaves and it's clear Luck is at best a coin flip to be ready for the start of the regular season. Ballard says Luck likely will not begin the season on the PUP list (he began training camp on the PUP list), but that should not be a surprise. Typically speaking, teams will save the roster spot for the starting quarterback in case he is ready to return early.
It all becomes more problematic when you realize the Colts now could start the season with Scott Tolzien under center and a backup center snapping him the ball. If Luck is ready to go within the first quarter of the season (my hunch is he ends up missing four games), he too will be taking snaps from a backup center, or at least someone signed off the street.
As @AdamSchefter reported, I was also told 6 to 8 weeks as the timeline on Kelly for now. First month of the season could be kaput. #Colts
— Stephen Holder (@HolderStephen) August 17, 2017
Kelly was a first-round pick, specifically designed as a selection to help protect Luck, who was routinely being beaten up by opposing defenses. So if you're keeping score at home, the Colts could be missing their starting quarterback, starting center, two starting safeties (Clayton Geathers is going to be out for sure and Malik Hooker is on the PUP list after a hamstring injury to start training camp) when the season opens. And we haven't even hit the second week of the preseason yet.
