Colts Wide Receiver Reggie Wayne Playing Through a Torn Triceps

Last night in an interview post-game, following perhaps the worst game of wide receiver Reggie Wayne's illustrious career, head coach Chuck Pagano let slip a little injury detail.  Pagano, talking with Bob Lamey, mentioned that Wayne has been battling through a "knee, elbow, torn tri-" before then moving on.  Wait, so Reggie Wayne has been playing through a torn triceps?  It seemed to be the case.

Chuck Pagano confirmed it this afternoon: Reggie Wayne indeed has a torn triceps.  He suffered the injury earlier in the season in the game against the Cincinnati Bengals, the same game in which he injured his elbow.  There was initially some concern that it was serious, but after he only missed one game it seemed like the Colts' dodged a bullet.  But it turns out that wasn't the case.  He suffered a torn triceps along with the elbow injury, and he's been playing with it since.

Often, a torn triceps can be a season ender - especially for a pass catcher like Reggie.  But he has played five games with the injury, and while it's clear that he's struggling, he's fighting through it.  Pagano really wouldn't get into whether the Colts would consider sitting Reggie or shutting him down for the season.

#colts Pagano: Wayne. I know he's got more. How much? I don't know. He'll deliver. He'll be back. @rtv6

— Mike Chappell (@mchappell51) December 8, 2014

#colts Pagano: Wayne. Shut him down and let him rest for postseason? Just put guys out there that give us the best chance to win. @rtv6

— Mike Chappell (@mchappell51) December 8, 2014

Wayne struggled on Sunday, catching just one pass for five yards (seeing his streak of consecutive games with at least three catches end at 82) on eight targets, including three drops.  The new injury information doesn't erase his struggles, but it sure helps to explain them.  From anybody watching Reggie play, it was clear something wasn't right.  Turns out that he's been battling through a torn triceps.  And regardless of whatever your thoughts are about how he has been playing recently, that is one tough dude to be playing through a torn triceps.

So what do the Colts do now?  It sounds like they're not going to shut him down for the season, and I wonder if perhaps that is because, if this is his last season, they don't want him going out on injured reserve.  That's just a guess, but it could be.  Either way, I wouldn't expect him to end up on injured reserve.  But will the team shut him down for any length of time to help him recover a bit?  That's certainly a possibility, but sometimes with an injury like a torn triceps the only real option is surgery, which would mean Reggie would have to be shut down.  So if he doesn't go that route until after the season is over, then sometimes just rest won't help it heal a ton.

Another question that this raises is whether the Colts violated any NFL rules about the injury report.  I look at the question more in depth here, but I would assume the league will at least look into it.

The big news now, however, is that Chuck Pagano has confirmed that star wide receiver Reggie Wayne has been playing through a torn triceps.  And credit to the team for revealing it, seeing as it really helps explain Wayne's recent struggles.