Doyel: Most Colts injury update ever: Darius Leonard's ankle masked severity of back

[JAFF]

https://www.indystar.com/story/sport...y/10004684002/

Doyel: Most Colts injury update ever: Darius Leonard's ankle masked severity of back issue
Gregg Doyel
Indianapolis Star
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INDIANAPOLIS – The Indianapolis Colts are talking about Darius Leonard’s back, but I’m thinking about Andrew Luck’s shoulder.

Colts coach Frank Reich is saying Leonard underwent back surgery Tuesday but should be ready for the 2022 NFL season opener, and I’m thinking of Luck undergoing shoulder surgery in January 2017 and missing all of the 2017 season. Reich is saying he’s “optimistic” about Leonard, and I’m remembering Reich saying he was “optimistic” about Andrew Luck on Aug. 9, 2019.

Luck retired 15 days later.

Perhaps none of this is fair – not to Leonard, not to Reich and not to the Colts, no matter how many conspiracy-theory loons say the Colts “lied” in 2019 – but we’ve earned the right to our pessimism, even our cynicism. If there’s even a chance of the sky falling on the Colts, find a fallout shelter. Because it’s coming down.


OK, so maybe not every time. If you’d like to read something comforting, I’ll remind you that quarterback Carson Wentz and guard Quenton Nelson were diagnosed with similarly strange foot injuries in early August 2021, each having a piece of bone mysteriously break loose, and were given the same bizarre recovery timeline (5-12 weeks) – and both were ready for the regular-season opener five weeks later.

See? Good news!

Now then, Wentz and Nelson and several other key players – including Darius Leonard, come to think of it – infamously took an anti-vaccine stance last season and were rewarded by catching the coronavirus at the absolute worst time, late in the season, when the Colts choked away a spot in the 2021 NFL playoffs. We’d been warning you for months to carry an umbrella or a hardhat, because with this team’s ridiculous vaccine rate, the sky sure might fall.

And I’ll be damned.

Here we go again.

AFC inside linebacker Darius Leonard of the Indianapolis Colts (53) looks on during Pro Bowl NFL football practice, Saturday, February 5, 2022, in Las Vegas.
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Can't make this up: Ankle injury hid Darius Leonard's back injury

Darius Leonard first noticed something wrong with his back “early in the offseason,” Reich said. He wasn’t giving much in the way of details – when I asked Reich where Leonard underwent surgery, he said only, “Out West” – so I can’t tell you if “early in the offseason” means January, shortly after the Colts choked away that playoff spot, or February or March or April.


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Right now you might be wondering, as I’m wondering: If the Colts knew about this back issue early in the offseason, why the hell didn’t Leonard have surgery sooner? Turns out, there’s a reason:

The Colts didn’t know how badly the back was injured, because Leonard hasn’t been able to participate in organized team activities…

… because of his injured ankle!

Ha!

You know what they say about history repeating itself, right? Something about Darius Leonard waiting until June to have surgery on a lingering issue, and then having it affect him early in the regular season. That’s what happened last year, with his ankle:


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Leonard’s ankle bothered him during the 2020 season, but he didn’t have surgery until June 2021, then started last season slowly – 17 tackles, total, in the first three games – as the Colts limped with him to an 0-3 start.

The ankle was an issue all season, you might recall, with Leonard answering a question about it in November by saying only, “It’s attached.”


Here we go again, with the ankle bothering Leonard again this offseason. No surgery, of course. Because why on earth, after the past 12 months, would anyone think his ankle isn’t completely healed? Meanwhile, his inability to practice on that good-as-new ankle masked a back injury that required surgery Tuesday.

Here’s how Reich broke that news, opening his media briefing after the first day of minicamp Tuesday like this:

“Just an update on Darius,” he said, “we continue to monitor his ankle and he is not going to need a second procedure.”

So far, so good.

“But he’s not here,” Reich continued, “because what has happened, he has a back issue that’s been a progressive thing that started early in the offseason and was fine but it’s just been something that’s progressed and we just recently made the evaluation (after) consulting with various doctors and trainers that he’s going to have a procedure done on his back.”

Pause.

“In fact it was today.”

Darius Leonard sure is small, and he sure gets hurt a lot. Hmm...

You have to wonder about Darius, you know? He’s small for a linebacker. Like, tiny. And he loves it, bragging that he weighs 210 pounds or something like that, because it’s a badge of honor to Leonard – a product of South Carolina State – to share the field with all those monsters and come out a star. Leonard sees himself as an underdog, almost identical to the self-evaluation of former Colts defensive end Robert Mathis (from Alabama A&M), and he’s right:


It is impressive that Leonard can play such a violent game with such a lithe frame.

It would be more impressive if he’d stop getting hurt.

So you wonder: Is this just the price of admission for the Colts of having one of the fastest, smallest linebackers in the NFL? Wondering when he’ll get hurt next, and then wondering how much offseason time he’ll waste before having surgery to fix it?

Could be. Back surgery is no joke, and Reich would go only so far Tuesday to say, “If all goes according to plan, he should be ready for the regular season.”

Terrific. Best-case scenario, everything going exactly as it should, Darius Leonard will be ready for the Colts’ 2022 opener at Houston on Sept. 11.

On the bright side, it’s only June 7. The game in Houston is three months away. The sky is not falling. Not yet. Keep your positive thoughts close.

But keep your umbrella closer.

[rm1369]

I honestly have no idea what to think here. Selfish player, team mismanagement, or just plain bad luck? I could make an argument for any of them. Ultimately all I know is Leonard is one of the guys most likely to carry this team to a SB and yet he’s also the guy whose contract I think they are most likely to regret. Great player on the field, I just always get the impression he’s lacking something important off of it. Hopefully he’s truly ready week one and not “working his way into playing shape” ready for week one. This D needs him if they are to avoid another slow start.

[apballin]

Originally Posted by rm1369

I honestly have no idea what to think here. Selfish player, team mismanagement, or just plain bad luck? I could make an argument for any of them. Ultimately all I know is Leonard is one of the guys most likely to carry this team to a SB and yet he’s also the guy whose contract I think they are most likely to regret. Great player on the field, I just always get the impression he’s lacking something important off of it. Hopefully he’s truly ready week one and not “working his way into playing shape” ready for week one. This D needs him if they are to avoid another slow start.

He’s a competitor and I have faith in him, hopefully this adds more fuel to his fire

[ChoppedWood]

With this group who knows what the truth is, he has probably had micro-fracture surgery on his knee and will never be able to run again and we'll be told 2 days before the regular season that he actually retired on June 7th, but the door was kept open in case he got a new knee put on.

This sucks, has all the makings of a Peyton Manning / Bob Sanders ending where a minor procedure eventually transforms into a year / career ender and they just didn't want to tell the truth for whatever reason (butts in seats???)

[Racehorse]

Why does every article by Doyel reek of hatred for the team? If they did not get posted here, I would not read his drivel.

[JAFF]

Originally Posted by Racehorse

Why does every article by Doyel reek of hatred for the team? If they did not get posted here, I would not read his drivel.

Yes, he is a cynic. Calling out bullshit on the Colts organizations management of injury information is accurate. An ankle injury masking a back injury that requires surgery? What a pile of manure.

While I understand an individuals right to medical privacy, the Colts owe their ticket buyers an honest evaluation of the roster and player health. Indy fans have been conned twice in recent memory where the lack of a quality back up at Qb sank the season.

[Oldcolt]

Originally Posted by Racehorse

Why does every article by Doyel reek of hatred for the team? If they did not get posted here, I would not read his drivel.

This article is pure bullshit, pure conjecture with zero reporting to back anything he says up. He seems to be searching for some clever angle but comes off as a dick lately.

[rm1369]

Originally Posted by Oldcolt

This article is pure bullshit, pure conjecture with zero reporting to back anything he says up. He seems to be searching for some clever angle but comes off as a dick lately.

The article certainly comes off as Doyle having an axe to grind, but it’s pretty damn hard to say it’s bullshit. The team’s explanation rings of bullshit though. It’s pure conjecture because that’s how the team plays injuries. You can defend the teams stance and reasoning, but a reporter pointing out the team has a history of lying about this stuff is pretty damn accurate - even if it’s obvious Doyle is purposely being harsh. Honestly they deserve the treatment on this one.

[Racehorse]

Originally Posted by rm1369

The article certainly comes off as Doyle having an axe to grind, but it’s pretty damn hard to say it’s bullshit. The team’s explanation rings of bullshit though. It’s pure conjecture because that’s how the team plays injuries. You can defend the teams stance and reasoning, but a reporter pointing out the team has a history of lying about this stuff is pretty damn accurate - even if it’s obvious Doyle is purposely being harsh. Honestly they deserve the treatment on this one.

The clown is a hack. I have no use for such types. Kravitz wasn't even this bad.

[Oldcolt]

Originally Posted by rm1369

The article certainly comes off as Doyle having an axe to grind, but it’s pretty damn hard to say it’s bullshit. The team’s explanation rings of bullshit though. It’s pure conjecture because that’s how the team plays injuries. You can defend the teams stance and reasoning, but a reporter pointing out the team has a history of lying about this stuff is pretty damn accurate - even if it’s obvious Doyle is purposely being harsh. Honestly they deserve the treatment on this one.

By bullshit I did not mean that what he says is out of the question. It is one thing for us freaks to speculate and bitch-hell that's what fans do. This guy is putting this clap trap in the Star behind a pay wall-I expect more from someone who makes a living reporting. Like maybe some information that acutely informs me of some new facts to back up his assertions. The Colts hide their injury shit-nothing new, they did it way before Doyel arrived. All NFL teams do it.