While Andrew Luck definitely won’t be participating in this week’s mandatory mini-camp for the Colts as he recovers from injury, his top target might not be on the field either.
Wide receiver T.Y. Hilton tweaked his hamstring in practice last week, and while the injury doesn’t seem serious, it also seems like the Colts might be cautious and hold him out of practice this week.
“T.Y.’s got a little bit of a hammy he’s dealing with and probably will be limited,” Chuck “Pagano said this afternoon. “[He] may not do anything, just to be quite frank and honest with you guys, which is ok, but it’ll give those other young guys more opportunities.”
There’s really no point in rushing Hilton back just to participate in a couple of offseason practices, so the Colts are doing the right thing by being cautious. Whether Hilton is limited or whether he simply doesn’t practice at all, he’s not expected to do much this week. But the good news is that it doesn’t seem to be that serious of an issue at all, which means that it shouldn’t be a long term thing and that even if he doesn’t participate this week he should be 100% for the start of training camp.
Furthermore, Hilton won’t be missing much by not practicing. His roster spot is guaranteed, and with Luck out he won’t even be missing a chance to work on timing with his quarterback. As Pagano noted, however, it will give younger wideouts more opportunities in camp this week, which could wind up being a good thing with a number of them competing trying to stick around either as a depth receiver or as a practice squad player.