|
Colts RB Mike Hart's season ends with knee injury
By MICHAEL MAROT
October 15, 2008
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - The Indianapolis Colts needed help in their injury-depleted
backfield.
They expect three new running backs to fill the holes.
With Pro Bowler Joseph Addai unlikely to play Sunday against Green
Bay, and Mike Hart out for the rest of the season, the Colts added
three running backs to the roster Wednesday - one day after acquiring
defensive tackle John McCargo in a trade with Buffalo.
The Colts addressed their most pressing need - a leaky run defense -
with the trade for McCargo, but Sunday's injuries to Addai and Hart
changed their priorities.
Addai left in the first quarter against Baltimore with a hamstring
injury, and Hart, a sixth-round pick who was Michigan's career
rushing leader, hurt his right knee in the second quarter. Coach Tony
Dungy said Wednesday that Hart had been placed on injured reserve
with an injured anterior cruciate ligament, though Dungy wasn't sure
it was torn.
The only other running back on the Colts' active roster was veteran
Dominic Rhodes.
"I don't know if he (Hart) will have surgery or not," Dungy
said. "It's really, really a shame. He's a good player who
brought a lot of energy. We think Chad Simpson can do that, too."
Simpson, an undrafted rookie from Morgan State, was promoted from the
practice squad.
Addai's injury isn't nearly as
serious as Hart's.
Dungy described it as a tweaked hamstring, but that may be enough to
keep him on the bench this weekend.
"I wouldn't look for Joe to play this week, I think Dominic will
start," Dungy said. "But I don't think it's going to be
very long. I suspect that by the end of the week, there might be some
thought of playing him, but my sense is we'll go with three guys."
That would be Rhodes, the former 1,000-yard runner who helped Indy
win the Super Bowl in 2006, Simpson, the fastest and shiftiest back
on the roster, and Clifton Dawson, who played with the Colts last
season before being cut in August.
Besides promoting Simpson, the Colts signed rookie Lance Ball to the
practice squad and re-signed Dawson, who spent the past seven weeks
working out in hopes of getting a phone call.
To make room on the active roster for Dawson, the Colts waived
recently signed defensive back Nick Graham.
There was some positive injury news for the Colts. Outside linebacker
Tyjuan Hagler, who has been on the physically unable to perform list
with a torn pectoral muscle, practiced for the first time Wednesday.
Starting guard Ryan Lilja, also on the PUP list, however, still has
not started practicing since having offseason surgery on his right knee.
The team has three weeks to activate Hagler and Lilja or they will
miss the rest of the season.
Safety Bob Sanders, the 2007 defensive player of the year, may return
in the next few weeks. Sanders hasn't played since spraining his
right ankle in Week 2 against Minnesota.
"I doubt that he'll practice this week, but when he can run,
he'll be out there," Dungy said. "It's just the high ankle
sprain that's keeping him out." |
