According to 1070AM “The Fan,” Joseph Addai, Brody Eldridge, Mike Hart, Clint Session and Justin Tryon did not travel with the team, meaning they will be out for the game and will join Bob Sanders and Antonio Johnson on the inactive list. One other player must be ruled out for the game to bring the regular roster down to its 45-man game day limit.
While it is not surprising that Joseph Addai will be inactive, others may be of greater concern.
The undisclosed severity of Mike Hart’s injury is worrying, especially after the team waited until this morning, six days after examining Anthony Gonzalez, to place him on the Injured Reserve list. While fans may still be optimistic that his injury is nothing more than a rolled ankle, the current state of the Colts, and the strange way the Colts acted with Gonzalez’s injury obviously does not inspire confidence — especially given some random reports stating that Mike Hart may also be done for the season.
With the fractured forearm and dislocated elbow, Clint Session isn’t a big surprise either, despite his assertion that he would still play in spite of the injury. Phil B. Wilson of the Indianapolis Star thinks the likely linebacker corps will feature recently returned Tyjuan Hagler playing at weakside linebacker in place of Session. Another popular theory is moving Pat Angerer to the weakside and letting Phillip Wheeler return to his strongside position. The final decision could signal greater turbulence at the position if Wheeler does not return to the lineup after being replaced by Angerer last week, despite a strong performance this year in his limited role as the #3 Linebacker.
The unexpected position change for Jacques McClendon to TE also made Brody Eldridge’s return this week unprobable. The move is odd considering that McClendon has put on an extra 20 lbs. since being drafted, and is now playing at over 320 lbs. The implications of this move are worrisome as the sudden move of a large developmental lineman to Tight End, where he has some previous experience, can either signal a more severe injury than expected to a very good blocking TE in Brody Eldridge, a lack of faith in recently re-signed Gijon Robinson, or even an unimpressive showing by the TEs under development in the practice squad (one of whom is suspended for drug test failures for performance enhancing drugs).
The loss of Justin Tryon, who had a very good showing this past week against Houston, is mitigated by the return of another impressive young cornerback in Jacob Lacey, who has been battling an injury for most of the season. Jerraud Powers has described himself as “day-to-day,” but speculation is that because he has not practiced in two weeks, his injury is also more severe than previously thought and he will be held out of the game, allowing Lacey to notch his first start of the season.
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