Reggie Wayne and Vick Ballard not participating in minicamp for Colts

Colts running back Vick Ballard and veteran wide receiver Reggie Wayne both suffered ACL injuries last season. Both are also looking to bounce back healthy in 2014, but neither will be showcasing their skills on the practice field during the team's mandatory minicamp this week. Wayne and Ballard are out, as is offensive guard Donald Thomas. He too is recovering from an ACL. Thomas suffered a torn quad and a torn biceps muscle early last season. The biceps injury was revealed by general manager Ryan Grigson at the owner's meeting in March.

Reggie Wayne was cleared to participate in football activities back on June 9th, but the team has opted to play it safe and keep Wayne out of organized, on-the-field work with his teammates.

To our knowledge, both Wayne and Ballard are expected to be ready for training camp July 23rd.

Donald Thomas? Different story.

Thomas is a 309-pound offensive lineman, and lineman who suffer ACL injuries (or quad and biceps tears) often require a lot of time to recover. Just ask Lance Louis, who is just now getting healthy after dealing with an ACL injury suffered in a November 2012 game when he was with the Chicago Bears. Louis didn't even play in the NFL last year. Now, he's essentially replacing Thomas, working with the first unit at left guard.