Colts Found out Monday Morning about Robert Mathis Injury

It was this afternoon when reports began to come out that Colts star pass rusher Robert Mathis had torn his Achilles while working out in Atlanta and was out for the year.  According to reports, the injury came last week, but we just found out this afternoon.  The Colts didn't find out much earlier, as it was in fact Monday morning when they learned of Mathis' injury.

Said Colts head coach Chuck Pagano today in his press conference:

"We received word this morning, [head athletic trainer] Dave Hammer got a phone call from Robert Mathis and Robert had informed Dave that he had suffered an injury while working out down in Atlanta. It turned out to be an Achilles, something to do with his Achilles. He's in route, or going to be in route tomorrow; he's supposed to come up here at some point. He'll get here tomorrow night or the next day. He'll see our docs, we'll evaluate the situation with Robert. Obviously injuries we know are part of the game. We hate to lose anybody. We knew we were going to be without Robert for the first four games, but again, really a devastating blow for Robert, his family, our team and this organization."

There have been some questions about what the Colts were allowed to say regarding the Mathis injury, seeing as he's suspended currently, and there were some questions about how much the Colts could talk with Mathis about the injury.  How did the Colts find out about it?  How can Mathis come to the Colts' complex for tests?  Well it turns out that in the NFL's suspension policy, while there are very strict guidelines about no contact, if a player has an injury he is allowed to contact the team and keep them informed.  But that's one time teams really don't want to hear from a player.