By Tom James
Tribune-Star Correspondent
TERRE HAUTE
August 06, 2007 06:34 pm
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Veteran defensive tackle Anthony McFarland may miss extensive playing time for the Indianapolis Colts after suffering a knee injury during a training camp practice late last week.
Colts coach Tony Dungy confirmed Monday that McFarland had incurred a patella tendon injury. While not elaborating on the specifics of the injury or how the injury initially occurred, Dungy did acknowledge that a full recovery wouldn’t happen anytime soon.
“Anthony’s got a knee injury. It’s the patella tendon. We don’t know the full extent of it. It’s serious,” he said at the conclusion of the team’s morning workout. “I’m a little hesitant [to talk about it] because last we had [tight end] Dallas Clark ready to go onto [injured reserve] and then he ended up not having an operation and playing.
“Until he actually has the operation, until we get the final word, but it’s something he’s not going to be back in the next three or four weeks or anything like that. It’s a long-term injury. We’ve got some other guys that have to pick up the slack. But that’s about really all I can say on it right now.”
Surgery is probable at some point in the very near future, although Dungy was reticent to offer many details.
“It’s something that we’re contemplating. It’s something that I think is going to happen. But we’re still waiting to see,” he said.
McFarland’s injury occurred during Friday’s afternoon practice, leaving the field early during the workout. He was sent to Indianapolis on Saturday, along with strong side linebacker Rob Morris and defensive end Robert Mathis, in order to undergo magnetic resonance imaging tests.
Dungy had initially termed the MRI tests as precautionary. While Morris (leg) returned to practice Monday and Mathis (jammed knee) is expected back relatively soon, speculation about the seriousness of McFarland’s injury began to leak out Saturday evening.
“It’s hard. [McFarland] worked very hard, became a leader for us last year. To have that type of setback is disappointing for the individual,” he said. ”As far as our team goes, it’s really something that we’ve got to move past. And that’s what you have to do. But it’s tough for him and it’s tough on the team as a group.”
Raheem Brock will continue to be one defensive tackle starter for Indianapolis, but it’s a tossup as to who will eventually take over McFarland’s role in the Colts’ defensive lineup.
“We’ve lost guys and other guys have stepped up. Even in Anthony’s situation, the last time he got hurt [while playing for Tampa Bay], a guy named Chuck Darby stepped in and played and they went to the Super Bowl,” the Colts coach said.
“Chuck’s a real good player, but he wasn’t a household word at that time. He became one as the season went on. And, so, we’ve got some guys who need a little more playing time. [Rookies] Quinn Pitcock and Keyunta Dawson, we’ll probably move them in there full time now. But somebody will step to the front.”
Pitcock was one of the team’s two third-round draft picks last spring. He practiced for the first time Monday after missing the opening week of camp with a hamstring injury.
Dawson, a defensive end, was the Colts’ seventh-round draft pick this year. He has seen some work at defensive tackle during the first week of camp and was impressive in the team’s controlled scrimmage on Saturday, coming up with a pair of sacks along with a forced fumble and a recovered fumble.
“We’ve got a lot of young guys who are going to step up,” Brock said. “We don’t know what kind of injury [McFarland] has, but we’ve got to look to the young guys that’s going to step up. We’ve just got to move forward. That’s what we’ve got to do. When somebody gets hurt, another guy has to step up.”
Although Dungy did not rule out trying to find another defensive tackle on the NFL’s waiver wire or through a trade, he admitted that the Colts’ would much rather find defensive line help from within the team’s own roster.
“You never know. I’d thought we’d solved last year from within [when Indianapolis lost former Colts defensive tackle Corey Simon to a knee injury] and then we ended up getting Anthony. But it’s different people. I pointed that out to the team before training camp even started, that last year in the Super Bowl, our guys came from a lot of places,” he said.
“[Defensive tackle] Dan Klecko from the waiver wire, Anthony McFarland from a trade, [running back] Dominic Rhodes who was here, [safety] Antoine Bethea on the second day of the draft. So people come from everywhere. And it’s hard to predict and say this person is going to be the key or that person is going to be the key. We won’t leave any stone unturned. But for the most part, guys that are here are the guys that we’re counting on.”
n Pitcock arrives — The much awaited arrival of the 6-foot-2, 299-pound Pitcock couldn’t have come at a better time. With the loss of McFarland for the immediate future, the former Ohio State defensive lineman could provide some much needed bulk inside.
“He just got out there. He looked pretty good,” Brock said. “He looked like he played the run pretty well. So once we get him up to speed, he’ll be alright.”
Pitcock was happy to be back on the field after spending the last week waiting to pass his medical physical, sign his four-year contract and get back on the practice field. He was first injured working at the National Football Scouting Combine in February and tweaked the hamstring during the Colts’ spring mini-camps.
“[McFarland’s injury] is unfortunate. But from the beginning, I wanted to play as much as I could. I wanted to be on the field no matter what,” he said Monday. “[Sunday] night, I was having a hard time sleeping. I was picturing all the plays I could make. But once you get in there, it’s so much faster than in my mind. I was just a little rusty. I hadn’t played any true football since the Senior Bowl [in January], so I’m a little behind.”
Dungy was pleased to see Pitcock to practice.
“Quinn did a good job for his first time out. I told him that it was good to see him. For a while we thought he was one of those super hero action figure guys that you heard about but you never really saw them in person. And it was good to see that he was a real person,” the Colts coach joked.
n Speaking of size — Brock said that even without McFarland in the defensive lineup, the Colts still had some size up front to clog things up.
“We got some big guys. You’ve seen [rookie] Big Ed [Johnson]. Darrell Reid’s big. [Dan] Klecko’s kind of short but he’s big,” he laughed.
n Injury update — Morris was able to return to practice Monday after sitting out Saturday’s controlled scrimmage.
“It was just a little muscle strain. No big deal,” he said. “I’m fine.”
Mathis, meanwhile, continued to watch practice from the sidelines. But Dungy said that if Thursday’s preseason opener at Dallas was a regular season game, the Colts’ 2007 sack leader (9.5) would probably be able to play.
“I think Robert’s going to be fine,” he said. “He got kind of a jammed knee, more than anything else. But we’ll be fine. If this was the regular season, he probably would have practiced [Monday].”
Also not practicing Monday morning were rookie linebacker Clint Session, wide receiver Devin Aromashodu (hamstring), linebacker Brandon Archer, linebacker Keith O’Neil, safety Bob Sanders (shoulder), defensive end Ben Ishola (ankle), offensive tackle Charlie Johnson (groin), offensive tackle Gabe Hall (knee), cornerback Tanard Davis, and running back Kenton Keith.
Keith may be able to play against the Cowboys. Rookie safety Brannon Condren dressed for the morning practice but did not take part in the drills. He did not take part in the afternoon special teams workout.
n Getting ready for the Cowboys — The Colts will begin preparations today for Thursday night’s preseason game at Texas Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. and will be nationally televised by Fox Sports.
“We have things that we try to accomplish,” Dungy said. “We try to win every [preseason] game, believe it or not. And it’s disappointing when you don’t go out there and play well and win. But part of it is getting ready for the [regular] season.
“We had a fundamental [practice] day [Monday]. [Today] we’ll do a little bit about Dallas. We don’t really have a lot of information on them. So we could spend a lot of time trying to research what they’re going to do. But it’s really more about getting ourselves ready. So if we’re playing well and we’re accomplishing things, we go into every game with something that we want to get done offensively, defensively and special teams. I don’t believe you ever learn anything by losing. So it’s not something that we enjoy not playing our best, but there are a lot of other things that we’re trying to get accomplished as well.”
The Colts’ first team offense and defense will begin the game and see limited playing time.
“The first [preseason] game we pretty much do it the same way every year. [The first team] will get a couple series, offensively and defensively. We have some guys that are second team guys that we want to see against really good players. So we’ll ease some of those guys into it. Then we’ll probably more of a mass substitution at the tail end of the first quarter,” he said. “There’s some things we want to get accomplished with that first group and it’s probably going to be 10 to 15 plays.”
Rookies such as offensive tackle Tony Ugoh, wide receivers Anthony Gonzalez and Roy Hall, defensive linemen Pitcock and Dawson, along with cornerbacks Dante Hughes and Michael Coe who will most likely see extended work against the Cowboys.
“Those [offensive] guys will play a lot, play in some different situations. And they won’t be limited to just five series here or four series here. We’ll try to work them in some. We’ve got some guys on defense the same way, that we’d like to see play with the first group,” the Colts coach said.
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