Colts lose, then blindsided by injury to Mathis

 

INDIANAPOLIS — It certainly wasn’t a normal Monday after-the-game press conference with Indianapolis Colts head coach Chuck Pagano.

Instead of reviewing the Colts’ 31-24 season-opening loss at Denver on Sunday night, or previewing next Monday night’s regular-season home opener with Philadelphia, the bulk of the questions directed to Pagano were about the immediate future of Pro Bowl outside linebacker Robert Mathis.

Mathis missed the Broncos game as he is serving a four-game NFL-mandated suspension for a violation of the league’s performance enhancing drug policy.

Reports began to trickle out Monday afternoon, however, that last year’s sack leader had suffered a potentially season-ending Achilles’ injury. The mishap had reportedly occurred as he was working out on his own in his hometown of Atlanta.

While Colts officials were made aware of Mathis’ injury Monday morning, he is expected to arrive back in Indianapolis sometime late Tuesday or early Wednesday. Mathis will then be checked out by team medical personnel in the coming days and a more complete picture should emerge.

While he is still serving the suspension, which prohibits all contact with the team, Mathis is allowed to talk to the training staff if he is injured while working out on his own.

“We received word (Monday) morning, (trainer) Dave Hammer got a phone call from Robert Mathis. And Robert had informed Dave that he had suffered an injury while working out down in Atlanta,” Pagano explained.

“Turned out to be an Achilles, something to do with his Achilles. He’s en route, or going to be en route. He’s supposed to be up here at some point. Get here (Tuesday) night or the next day. He’ll see our docs. We’ll evaluate the situation with Robert.”

Indianapolis has been down this route before. Last year, veteran wide receiver Reggie Wayne was sidelined with a season-ending knee injury. Two years ago, Pagano himself was forced to miss most of the year as he battled a form of leukemia.

“Injuries we know are part of the game. We hate to lose anybody. We knew we were going to be without Robert for the first four games. But, again, really a devastating blow for Robert and his family, our team and this organization,” the Colts head coach said.

“Again we hate to lose anybody. But this one stings. Like always, nobody is better equipped to handle circumstances and adversity than this group. It’s always been next man up around here. And that’s how we’ll approach this. We had to prep for a long time anyway because we knew we would be without him for at least the first four games. We’ll see when he gets up here and see exactly (where the injury) is at.”

COLTS REPORT CARD VS. BRONCOS

PASSING OFFENSE: B — QB Andrew Luck completed 35-of-53 passes for 370 yards and two touchdowns in the 31-24 loss to Denver. Luck was sacked three times and intercepted twice. He ended the game with an 83.1 passer rating. The timing and rhythm of the passing game was inconsistent most of the evening, due in large measure to the pressure delivered by the Broncos defense.

RUSHING OFFENSE: C — The Colts had only 54 yards rushing on 14 total carries, including 20 yards on six rushes by RB Trent Richardson. RB Ahmad Bradshaw added 15 yards on three carries. QB Andrew Luck had 19 yards on five carries with one touchdown. But he was also stopped from the 2-yard line on fourth down. As a team, Indianapolis averaged 3.9 yards per rushing attempt.

PASS DEFENSE: B-minus — Former Indianapolis QB Peyton Manning started the game fast, connecting on 22-of-36 passes for 269 yards and three touchdowns for the evening. All three of his touchdown passes came in the first two quarters. Manning cooled off a bit in the second half but still ended the game with a 111.9 passer rating. TE Julius Thomas had seven catches for 104 yards and three touchdowns. WR Emmanuel Sanders added six receptions for 77 yards.

RUSH DEFENSE: C — Denver ran for 102 yards in 32 total carries against the Colts. The Broncos averaged 3.2 yards per carry as a team. RB Montee Ball had 67 yards in 23 carries and a touchdown. While the Broncos didn’t pile up a lot of yardage on the ground, they were able to pick up valuable yardage in key situations to keep the chains moving. Indianapolis’ run defense had a tough time getting off the field on third down.

SPECIAL TEAMS: A — K Adam Vinatieri connected on his only field-goal attempt of the night, hitting from 25 yards out in the third quarter. P Pat McAfee averaged 43.8 yards net and 49.8 yards overall on four total punts. He also had four touchbacks on kickoffs. PR Griff Whalen averaged 4.8 yards on five returns. The Colts did not have a kickoff return.

COACHING: B — Indianapolis continues to get off to a slow start offensively. While the Colts managed to make a game of it, rallying from a 24-0 second-quarter deficit to eventually lose 31-24, the fact that Indianapolis has had to continually rally to get back in games has become all too common of an occurrence. Credit the coaching staff for making the necessary tweaks in the offensive and defensive game plans at halftime, which allowed the Colts to rally. But Indianapolis has to do a much better job of being ready to produce at the beginning of a game.