Colts WR T.Y. Hilton’s neck injury ‘not season-ending,’ Reich says

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Indianapolis Colts wide receiver T.Y. Hilton is being evaluated after reaggravating a neck injury, Coach Frank Reich said Sunday, but the injury isn’t “season-ending.”

Scans revealed a disc issue, Reich said, and there’s no timetable on how many games Hilton will miss.

The coach said about Hilton, “He was experiencing some discomfort during the trip to Detroit so we got scans done. It was a disc issue, so that’s a complicated issue so there are more meetings, more evaluation to come, more opinions to come. Obviously, we want to do our due diligence there. We’ve got all the right people on it and we’ll just continue to meet with the doctors, work with their cue and move forward accordingly. He will miss some games. We don’t know exactly how many. We’re optimistic it’s not season-ending – so we don’t know exactly how many games.”

“I mean in some ways it’s unique, but I think we’ll handle it the right way. As you guys know, we feel really good about this roster – everybody matters. First and foremost we want to make sure we get the right diagnosis and the right process in place for the guys that are injured to get them back as soon as possible. When you’re talking about a guy like T.Y. Hilton, I mean him missing games – all right that’s an obvious big blow because he is not only a great player, but he’s a great leader. He will still be a great leader on this team even if he misses games because that’s just who he is. It’s just unfortunate. I had said several times to Chris (Ballard), I really thought T.Y. was looking as good this training camp as I’ve seen him. He looked as fast as ever and as instinctive as ever. Even in the short time that he and Carson (Wentz) worked together, I could tell instant connection. I could feel that in talking to Carson. So that’s unfortunate but the good news is we’ve got good depth and guys will step up.”

Wide receiver Zach Pascal said Sunday about Hilton’s injury, “We all have to pick up the pieces to fill that role.”

“You never want to see a top guy go down. … He’s still the leader of group. He’ll be around to help.”

The coach also said Sunday that quarterback Carson Wentz will participate in team period this week, News 8’s Olivia Ray reports. Also, Quenton Nelson should be out of COVID-19 protocol on Monday and back on the practice field to take team portion reps this week.

Earlier Sunday, WISH-TV Colts Insider Zak Keefer and The Athletic’s Stephen Holder said Hilton will be out for several weeks.

Keefer and Holder said the injury is not expected to end Hilton’s season. The four-time Pro Bowler did not feature in any of the team’s three preseason games.

The Colts begin the regular season on Sept. 12 against the Seattle Seahawks.