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It was announced Thursday morning Colts left tackle Eric Fisher would be placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 list. Now, later in the day, All-Pro left guard Quenton Nelson has joined Fisher on the Reserve/COVID-19 list.
For two players dealing with injuries (Fisher = achilles, Nelson = foot), this is valuable rehab time that will be missed. Assuming both players are out for 10 days, they would be back at the Colts’ facility at the beginning of game week preparing for their season opener against the Seattle Seahawks.
Although they won’t miss any game action, this could delay their potential returns, which is a huge development. Nelson mentioned he’s still feeling the effects from foot surgery, especially when going through offensive line drills. Being away from the Colts’ complex now won’t allow Nelson to be treated by team doctors on-site, same goes for Fisher.
This will be another season where COVID-19 plays a big impact on NFL organizations. Already, head coach Frank Reich missed the beginning of training camp due to the coronavirus. Xavier Rhodes, T.J. Carrie, Al-Quaddin Muhammad and Julien Davenport also were impacted early on at Grand Park in Westfield, Indiana. Now, Fisher and Nelson are the latest Colts to be out due to COVID-19.
Not going away anytime soon, COVID-19 will impact teams throughout the NFL on a regular basis based on vaccination status. Now, we sit back and wait to see whether this will impact the immediate playing status for Nelson and Fisher once the regular season rolls around in a few weeks.