Because I have no life of my own, I spent part of my Memorial Day weekend reaching out to local media in Indianapolis and asking them about Colts cornerback Greg Toler's foot, which I'd heard was "injured."
Is he hurt?
Was he wearing a protective boot at OTAs?
Are Toler's bones made of pretzels?
After the initial response of "How the hell did you get my number, Wells?" the good people I spoke with all said they didn't see Toler wearing any sort of protective boot or cast during OTAs. In fact, Toler stood out among all the other corners last week, and impressed many media on-hand.
Feeling confident that I had enough info, I sent out this little tweet:
Greg Toler was NOT in a boot or soft cast at OTAs last week. As far as anyone knows, he's not hurt. Don't know where the rumor got started.
— Brad Wells (BBS) (@StampedeBlue) May 28, 2013
Not long after, a Twitter follower sent me this:
@stampedeblue you sure?? twitter.com/LegendaryDom/s…
— Dominique Burrous (@LegendaryDom) May 28, 2013
Yep, that's a photo from the official Colts Instagram site, posted on Thursday of last week. In the center is Greg Toler, and that is indeed a protective boot on what seems to be his right foot.
It was on Wednesday, the day before this pic was posted, that media saw Toler practice. It's possible that something happened on Thursday, and that's why no one reported he was wearing a boot.
It should be noted that Toler's left foot (not the right one in the boot) was injured last year and cost him a few games during the 2012 season. Toler also missed the entire 2011 season with a torn ACL.
Part of the reason Toler was not re-signed in Arizona was his brittleness. Yes, "brittleness" a harsh word, but welcome to the NFL! If you can't stay healthy, you're gonna get labeled brittle. The hope is that Toler's injury history doesn't repeat itself in Indianapolis, but so far it doesn't look as if he's 100% healthy.
Hopefully, the boot is just precautionary, or easing/aiding the recovery process.