Colts tight end Dwayne Allen gives fans a scare during practice, but "he's fine"

The Indianapolis Colts have made it through their offseason program pretty healthy so far, but on Wednesday fans got a bit of a scare.

Tight end Dwayne Allen, who has struggled with injuries over the past two seasons, was hit in the left knee by safety Dwight Lowery (inadvertently, of course, as these drills are non-contact) and he grabbed his knee while staying down on the ground a bit.  Eventually, however, he got up under his own power and walked it off - though "gingerly" at first. Thankfully, before long Allen was back on the field working with his teammates.

"He's fine" head coach Chuck Pagano said after practice.  "He just tweaked that thing and he was back on seven-on-seven drills.  He's fine."

Allen agreed that it was no big deal and that he's ok.  "No worry," Allen assured.  "No worry.  Dwight Lowery made a great play.  He obviously has fresh legs.  My legs are still coming along.  I need to do a better job of getting faster.  During this time of year, it's a no-contact period and if I was faster he wouldn't have contacted me.  That was on me.  Just got a little banged up, was able to get up and get back into things."

Allen is entering a very important season, as he's on a contract year and has missed 18 games over the past two years due to injury despite playing through other lingering injuries.  When he's on the field and healthy, Allen has proven to be a very well-rounded tight end and a very important part of the Colts' offense.  In his three seasons with the Colts, he has caught 75 passes for 936 yards and 12 touchdowns, averaging 12.5 yards per catch.  Allen has also been a very good blocker at the position and versatility in the offense, whether as a receiver, a blocking tight end, or a fullback.  But he needs to stay on the field, and with him entering the final year of his contract and other players like Andrew Luck, T.Y. Hilton, Anthony Castonzo, and fellow tight end Coby Fleener also nearing the end of their respective deals, Allen will be competing with others for money.  To do that, though, he needs to stay on the field and stay healthy, and that has seemed to be an issue for him recently.  That's part of why it was such a scare when he initially went down in practice today, but thankfully he's alright and he returned to practice a little later.