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Injuries are part of the game, and unfortunately, in the case of second year player Ben Ijalana, injuries can end a season before it begins.
The Indianapolis Star's Mike Chappell is reporting that both Ijalana and reserve linebacker A.J. Edds are done for 2012 with knee injuries. In Ijalana's case, he tore the same ACL he injured last year during the regular season. One has to wonder if Ijalana's career is now in doubt. Once an ACL is injured, the potential for re-injury to that ACL increases. Ijalana spent much of the 2012 offseason rehabbing his knee. Even with all that, he didn't last two days at training camp.
So very unfortunate.
With Ijalana and Edds out, the Colts are looking thin at the offensive guard and inside linebacker spots. Jeff Linkenbach and Joe Reitz are battling for the left guard spot, a prospect that should give pause to rookie quarterback Andrew Luck. Neither Linkenbach or Reitz are particularly good at the position, and both went undrafted. Ijalana was a second round pick in 2011, and even though he hadn't done much to impress coaches this offseason (he was rehabbing after all) Ijalana was expected to push for either one of the starting guard spots or the right tackle position.
Look for the Colts to bring in some linemen and a linebacker in the coming days.