Injury Updates on T.Y. Hilton, Dwayne Allen, and Jerrell Freeman

There has been a lot of negativity recently among Colts fans, and for good reason after an embarrassing 42-7 loss at the hands of the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday.  If you're in the mood for some good news, however, then you've come to the right place, because today's injury updates were pretty positive.

Firstly, Chuck Pagano noted in his conference call today that the team anticipates star wide receiver T.Y. Hilton back for this Sunday's game against the Tennessee Titans.  Hilton missed the game against Dallas and, while his absence wasn't the sole reason for the offensive struggles, it cannot be overlooked either.  When you don't have a receiver who has caught 82 passes for 1,345 yards and 7 touchdowns on the season in the lineup, there are going to be struggles, especially when the receiver is as important to the Colts' offense as Hilton is.  Getting him back this weekend would be huge, but I know the Colts will be cautious with the playoffs just a week away.  That said, they thought there was a slim chance Hilton could play last week and they expect him to be back this weekend against the Titans, which is very good news.

Furthermore, on Sunday tight end Dwayne Allen (knee) and inside linebacker Jerrell Freeman (hamstring) both suffered injuries in the loss.  Regarding Allen's injury, Pagano said that, "he saw the docs and had an MRI. He dinged that knee up and he'll be day-to-day."  While Allen had his worst career game on Sunday (playing eight snaps and dropping three passes while also getting injured), he's a very good player who is important to what the Colts do offensively.  With the Colts day-to-day doesn't really tell us when the player will be ready to go but it does tell us that it's not too significant.

As far as Jerrell Freeman goes, Pagano said that, "he had a MRI as well. He'll be day-to-day with a hamstring."  Again, he didn't have a great game on Sunday (especially that idiotic taunting penalty) but he's an important player to Indy's defense.  While we don't know for sure when he'll be back, it's good that it's not a severe injury.

Lastly, Chuck Pagano provided an update on right tackle Gosder Cherilus, who missed Sunday's game against the Cowboys with a groin injury.  It wasn't much of an update, however, as Pagano basically said that it's too early to tell whether or not Cherilus will be available for the upcoming game against Tennessee.  "I think it's still too early to know," Pagano said.  "I think talking to the trainers today, he was in today, he's feeling a little bit better. I think they'll take him out and move him around some tomorrow and I'll know more obviously after tomorrow's practice on that."  With Cherilus, it might make sense for the Colts to rest him another week if he's still hurting, as he's been hurting for most of the year and his play has been affected because of it.

Ultimately, it was not a good day for the Colts yesterday, but that wasn't the end of their season.  And the good news is that it sounds like the Colts could soon be getting some key players back as they prepare to attempt a run in the playoffs.