So much for the former Purdue star possibly winning the starting safety job this season. From Mac's Football Blog:
According to a league source, one player who'll have additional time to heal is rookie defensive back Brandon King, whose injured hamstring has landed him on injured reserve.
A 5-10, 194-pound undrafted free agent from Purdue, King appeared in four games for the Colts this season, recording his first NFL tackle while covering a punt in the first quarter in Sunday night's win over the Washington Redskins.
Looks like Aaron Francisco and Mike Newton are the strong safeties for this team going forward. Clearly, the Colts and Bill Polian are banking that Bob Sanders will return this year. Polian made no moves to trade for a safety before the Oct. 19th trading deadline, which tells me he thinks Bobzilla will be back. I mean, no offense to Aaron Francisco, but this team is not winning a Super Bowl with him back there as the starting strong safety.
Here's Bill Polian from his radio show this past Monday:
[Bob's] status is he's still on the active roster and therefore eligible to come back. He's not on injured reserve. Our hope is that he continues with his rehabilitation. If he stays on the same schedule he was last year, it took about 12 weeks from the time of surgery until the time he was ready to go with the bicep. There's no complicating issue. Last year, his knee was a complicating issue. This year, there isn't any. Our hope is some time between Week 10 and 12, he may be back.
This is a big gamble on Polian's part. If Bob does not come back, kiss any hope of a Lombardi Trophy this season goodbye.