Collie 'not even thinking about' last season's concussions

Austin Collie understands that people have lingering questions about his health, but the Colts wide receiver has been running routes with Peyton Manning and is experiencing "no problems" from the two concussions that unraveled his 2010 season.

"I feel good," Collie told The Indianapolis Star in a story for Sunday's editions. "I feel like my routes are crisp and I'm catching the ball well. I'm doing all the little things."

After what Collie went through last season, Colts vice chairman Bill Polian wants to be sure his wide receiver is healthy before declaring him ready to go.

"I don't know if you can say that (Collie is back) until he gets on the field and actually plays," Polian said. "Thus far, all the signs are positive."

Collie was among the NFL leaders in receptions until hurting his right thumb Oct. 17 against the Washington Redskins. Surgery forced Collie to sit out the Colts next game.

He returned Nov. 7 against Philadelphia but left in the first half after Eagles defensive back Kurt Coleman lowered his shoulder to hit Collie and inadvertently had a helmet-to-helmet collision. Collie lay motionless on the field for about 10 minutes before being placed on a backboard and taken off the field on a stretcher.

Collie, who never had concussion issues prior to the Eagles game, returned Nov. 21 against New England but left in the first quarter with concussion-like symptoms.

He returned Dec. 19 only to suffer another frightening injury late in the second quarter against the Jacksonville Jaguars. On that play, Peyton Manning tried to thread a ball between two Jaguars defenders on third-and-12. Collie appeared to catch the ball, but when the second defender, linebacker Daryl Smith, hit Collie in the head with his forearm, the ball came out.

But Collie again stayed down on the field, motionless for several minutes as the hushed crowd watched 10 coaches and trainers huddle around Collie. Smith, Manning and Jeff Saturday -- the two longest-tenured Colts -- all stood nearby.

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Eventually, Collie sat up and walked straight to the locker room, missing the final 67 seconds of the half. Collie was placed on season-ending injured reserve on Dec. 22.

The two-year veteran began training in February on the West Coast and in Indianapolis, according to The Star. After working with Manning in non-contact passing sessions, the All-Pro quarterback told the newspaper that Collie moved with the same focus and dedication he always has.

Collie told The Star there was nothing he could have done to avoid the collisions from last season.

"It was just playing football and unfortunately, that's what can happen," he said. "They were just two unlucky incidents that unfortunately I was in the middle of.

"The last thing I want to do is hesitate at any given point. I try to put those things in the back of my mind and not worry about them."

Collie understands that people want to see how he responds to taking a hit.

"I'm not even thinking about that," he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Colts may continue playoff run without concussed WR Collie

INDIANAPOLIS -- The Indianapolis Colts may have to make their final playoff push without one of their top play-makers, receiver Austin Collie.

Less than 24 hours after Collie left his third game in seven weeks with a head injury, coach Jim Caldwell said he didn't know when -- or if -- Collie would return this season.

"We lean totally upon those who are in charge," Caldwell said, referring to the doctors. "Here's the thing. There's not a coach that makes any decision based on anybody who has a concussion. Once he's cleared and ready to go, that's the case."

The second-year receiver was injured late in the first half Sunday when Jacksonville linebacker Daryl Smith appeared to hit Collie in the head with his forearm as Collie went low to make a catch.

Unfortunately for Collie, it's been a recurring theme.

Since the second half of a Nov. 7 game at Philadelphia, Collie has played in only three quarters, leaving games twice with diagnosed concussions and a third time with what the team described as "concussion-like symptoms." Caldwell couldn't say definitively whether the third instance was considered a full-blown concussion.

But losing Collie could be another blow to the Colts' postseason hopes.

Despite missing five games and more than a half in three others, he leads all Indy receivers with eight TD catches, is second in receptions (58) and third in yards (649). And when four-time league MVP Peyton Manning was mired in the worst slump of his pro career, Collie wasn't wearing pads.

When he returned Sunday against the Jags, for what amounted to a playoff-elimination game, Manning threw 10 passes to Collie in the first half. He caught eight for 87 yards and two TDs, and, perhaps not surprisingly, his presence helped open things up for Indy's suddenly rejuvenated ground game.

And although Caldwell has not ruled out Collie for this week's game at Oakland, few expect him to play.

"Things are moving in the right direction from what I saw after the game," Caldwell said. "The medical professionals are as good as they come, they take all the necessary precautions. They are very, very conservative."

Clearly, Collie's health has become a serious concern for the Colts (8-6).

Caldwell said it was his top priority, and teammates understand why doctors are likely to be even more cautious given Collie's recent history and the league's new guidelines dealing with concussions.

"I talked to him (Collie) and he said it wasn't as bad as the last one, so that's the good news," Pro Bowl receiver Reggie Wayne said Sunday. "But they're all bad."

Meaning, Indy will probably have to finish its playoff push without Collie.

If the Colts win at Oakland and beat Tennessee at home, they will win their seventh AFC South title in eight years and earn a ninth straight playoff berth.

At least the Colts are playing more like the defending AFC champs.

After limiting Tennessee's Chris Johnson to 111 yards rushing and one TD, Indy held the league's hottest running back, Maurice Jones-Drew, to just 46 yards and no scores. This week, they'll have to contend with Darren McFadden and Michael Bush, who helped Oakland run for 264 yards in Sunday's victory over Denver. Then comes the rematch with Johnson.

The other promising sign is that Indy has added balance to its offense.

The Colts ran 32 times, compared with 35 passes, against the Titans, and ran 24 times while throwing 39 times against Jacksonville.

Clearly, it's made a difference in Manning's play. He's thrown four TD passes and no interceptions the past two weeks -- a stark contrast to the 11 picks he threw in the previous three games.

"Your play-action, it (balance) probably gives it a little more pop," Manning said. "Collie's second touchdown was on play-action, so we've got to keep that going."

Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press

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Colts' Collie improving, but status unclear vs. Bengals

The Colts expect receiver Austin Collie to be just fine, eventually.

Their playoff hopes may hinge on it.

One day after Collie lay motionless on the field for nearly 10 minutes, coach Jim Caldwell said Monday that the second-year receiver returned to Indianapolis on the team flight and was recovering from a concussion.

"Obviously the doctors felt good enough about his situation to allow him to travel back with us on the airplane," Caldwell said. "I think that's a pretty good indication that things were trending in the right direction. He came back, he was home sleeping, our medical staff had an opportunity to talk with him this morning and his symptoms are subsiding. He's trending in the right direction, which is great."

Fortunately, Collie appears to have escaped a more serious injury after Sunday's frightening scene in Philadelphia.

The contact on Collie was initiated by Eagles safety Quintin Mikell, who delivered a legal hit with his shoulder to the chest area of Collie. That contact propelled Collie toward Eagles safety Kurt Coleman, causing Coleman to make helmet-to-helmet contact with Collie,who crumpled to the turf with his two arms frozen in the air.

Collie was strapped to a backboard and taken off the field on a stretcher.

NFL Network insider Jason La Canfora reports that Because the helmet-to-helmet contact was a result of Collie being driven toward Coleman by Mikell's legal hit, the NFL will not impose a fine on Coleman.

"You definitely want to pray in that situation so that it's not bad as it looks," defensive captain Gary Brackett said. "And for that moment, it really puts things in perspective."

At halftime, the Colts said Collie was awake and alert.

And after the game, Collie could be seen walking around the locker room though he did not take reporters' questions.

Teammates were relieved with what they saw and heard.

"Austin is one of my best friends on this team and it's tough to watch. It's tough," tight end Jacob Tamme said. "We just tried to focus on football, but it's definitely tough. It was good to get to talk to him (on the plane), and he's going to be good -- we hope."

But the latest injury is yet another blow for the defending AFC champs.

Twelve players have already gone on injured reserve, and that list doesn't even include oft-injured safety Bob Sanders, who tore the biceps muscle in his right arm in the season opener and hasn't played since. Colts President Bill Polian said last week he hoped Sanders would return next month.

And the injury rash just seems to be getting worse.

At one point Sunday, all three of Indy's opening-day linebackers were on the sideline -- Gary Brackett, Philip Wheeler and Clint Session.

The usually high-powered offense hasn't been immune, either.

Manning has already lost All-Pro tight end Dallas Clark (wrist) for the season and has played the last two games without Joseph Addai (left shoulder). The four-man receiving corps that was expected to the deepest and most talented of the Manning era, has played together once all season, and even Polian said Saturday that while the team mantra is next man up, he's not even sure who the next man is.

Yet somehow, the Colts are 5-3 and are tied for the AFC South lead.

"I don't think we've really changed anything about this offense," Tamme said. "That's really the neat thing about this team, we understand what we're supposed to do and just go out there and go to work."

How long can the Colts keep winning this way? Who knows?

The Colts gave their players an unscheduled day off Monday, presumably to let them get an extra day to heal.

They need it.

Addai, third-string running back Mike Hart (ankle) and Session didn't even make the trip to Philly. Brackett and Wheeler both left the game briefly in the second half, and, now Collie, who just returned from thumb surgery, will be back on the injury report.

New NFL rules on concussions will require Collie to take a baseline neurological test and have his answers compared with the ones he gave before the season. He also has to be cleared by team doctors and an independent neurological specialist before he can get back in pads.

"They can make a determination of where he is," Caldwell said. "He'll be released to play whenever he is cleared."

But at least, he appears to be OK and the Colts hope he'll be back soon.

"I think it was great even to be able to relay the news that, 'Hey, he is fine. He's alert,' even prior to the game being finished," Caldwell said. "That certainly lifted a lot of spirits, in that regard.

"He is a guy that can come back and do his job," Caldwell added. "We fully anticipate that he will have the same fervor and fire in terms of his preparation in terms of trying to overcome this setback."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Colts WR Collie suffers concussion on helmet-to-helmet hit

PHILADELPHIA -- Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Austin Collie suffered a concussion on a second-quarter hit to his head Sunday by Philadelphia Eagles safety Kurt Coleman.

Collie was "awake and alert in the (locker) room," coach Jim Caldwell said after the Eagles' 26-24 victory. "I think he'll recover quickly. He'll do OK."

"I won't go into all the details about it, but he took a pretty good hit," Caldwell said. "He was out, unconscious for a period of time."

It was a scary scene that had the Linc silent while Collie lay on the ground for several minutes Sunday. Trainers worked on him, then Collie was placed on a stretcher as players from both sidelines stood and watched.

"Coach Caldwell told us early it was a concussion and you don't like to hear that," Peyton Manning said. "It's better than what everybody fears at that point."

The second-year receiver dropped a pass over the middle after he was hit by safeties Quintin Mikell and Coleman. Although Mikell was penalized for hitting a defenseless receiver, replays showed Coleman made contact with Collie's helmet.

Since the NFL cracked down on hits to the head and neck area on Oct. 19 after a spate of them the previous weekend, there were few such fouls. The league has threatened suspensions for illegal hits to defenseless players, saying they have no place in the game.

Collie was turning with the ball when he was hit and dropped it, making him a defenseless player. He fell to the ground and never appeared to move as he was worked on as Colts and Eagles players took of their helmets and looked on, several appearing to pray.

"I think the official made the proper call," Caldwell said.

The Colts have been plagued by injuries to their offense and already were without tight end Dallas Clark, his backup, Brody Eldridge, and second-string wideout Anthony Gonzalez, who was placed on injured reserve Saturday. Early in the third period, rookie Blair White was shaken up, too.

Collie had one catch for minus-1 yard Sunday. He entered the game with 44 receptions for 502 yards and six touchdowns.

In their last home game, Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson sustained a concussion on Oct. 17 on an illegal hit by Falcons cornerback Dunta Robinson, who also was concussed. Jackson returned to the lineup Sunday.

He was concerned about Collie, and at the same time wondered about the penalty -- Jackson thought the hits on Collie were clean.

"I just hope they don't take this ruling and try to change football," he said.

Robinson was fined $50,000 for the hit. For flagrant fouls that same day, Pittsburgh linebacker James Harrison ($75,000) and New England safety Brandon Meriweather ($50,000) also drew hefty fines. The league announced it would then dole out suspensions along with fines for illegal hits.

Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press

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No Clark, no Collie, no problem: Colts ready for Texans

INDIANAPOLIS -- Peyton Manning sees the Colts' injuries at wide receiver as merely another challenge to overcome.

Jacob Tamme heads into his second career start at tight end in place of Dallas Clark, and undrafted free agent Blair White is expected to see more playing time while subbing for Austin Collie when the Colts host the Houston Texans on Monday night.

Clark has been lost for the season with a wrist injury, and Collie will miss the game after undergoing surgery on his right thumb.

Manning expressed confidence Thursday when asked about his depleted group of pass-catchers.

"I really look forward to seeing where we are in this game," the quarterback said. "We'll get better each game with some of the new guys that are going to be playing in different spots. It's an exciting opportunity for these guys."

Wide receiver Anthony Gonzalez is expected to be available after missing four of the past five games with a sprained right ankle, but running back Joseph Addai is considered day to day with a nerve injury in his left shoulder and didn't practice Thursday. Wide receiver Pierre Garcon sat out with a hamstring injury, and the team's top wideout, Reggie Wayne, was limited with a hamstring injury.

At one point, Manning removed "injuries" from his vocabulary.

"It's not something that ... you can just keep drowning yourself with that word," he said. "We have to move on with the guys that are playing."

Even through all the injuries this season, Manning, a four-time MVP, has been dominant. He leads the NFL with a 103.4 passer rating and is tied for third with 13 touchdown passes.

"That one weapon that's going to take all them snaps is pretty good," Texans coach Gary Kubiak said.

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Center Jeff Saturday said the team takes great pride in its depth.

"It's something that we've built ourselves on here," he said. "Tamme's going to have to step in and do well, Gonzo's going to have to come back and be what he can be. Blair White, anybody. Next guy up has got to step up and meet the challenge. I've got faith in those guys."

There's no time to ease the youngsters into the lineup. The Colts are 0-2 in the AFC South and would have difficulty winning the division with another loss. The Texans and the Colts, both 4-2, are a half-game behind the Tennessee Titans for the division lead.

The Colts acknowledge that losing Clark affects their game plan. Clark's speed and pass-catching skills often have created mismatches and forced defenses to play with additional defensive backs.

"He certainly created some opportunities for us," Colts coach Jim Caldwell said. "Anytime you see a guy in his position catch 100 balls (last year), obviously, he's an integral part of what we do. He's been able to force teams to adjust what they want to do from a defensive standpoint in terms of personnel. Losing Dallas certainly is a bit of a blow to us."

Tamme, a special-teams standout who has six catches in his career and none this season, said his preparation has been similar to other weeks.

"Obviously, there's a few more reps, but mentally, no different," he said. "I think I'm prepared pretty good. Dallas does a good job of getting all of us prepared to play. I've been prepared to play every week. I'll prepare the same way."

White has made six catches for 66 yards this season. He was called up from the practice squad in Week 3 and caught three passes for 27 yards and one touchdown in a win over the Denver Broncos.

Garcon said the Colts expect anyone who plays to produce.

"We're not really making an adjustment based on the people that we're missing, we're making an adjustment on the defense that we're playing against," he said. "It's real simple. Just be where you're supposed to be at the time you're supposed to be there -- and make the plays."

Saturday knows the Texans don't feel sorry for the Colts.

"Obviously, losing those guys hurts, but you've got to continue to find ways to win," he said. "They ain't calling any games off."

Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press

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Colts lose Collie, Clark for indefinite period with hand injuries

First Joseph Addai, then Dallas Clark and now Austin Collie. If this run continues, the Indianapolis Colts might not have any healthy offensive players left by the time they return from a bye week.

The Colts announced Thursday that Collie, their second-leading receiver, had thumb surgery. The team said a timeframe for Collie's return hadn't been established, but a source with knowledge of the situation told NFL Network insider Jason La Canfora that the receiver will be out at least two weeks.

Collie has 44 catches for 503 yards and a team-high six touchdown receptions.

The news hit the Colts on the same day president Bill Polian revealed that Clark will be out indefinitely because of a wrist/hand injury, according to The Star.

Clark was examined by Dr. Thomas Graham at The Cleveland Clinic on Thursday, the tight end's agent, Neil Cornrich, told La Canfora. Graham is one of the nation's premier hand surgeons, and Clark and the Colts anticipate having more details about when the tight end can play by the end of the day.

"We're just not sure right now whether Dallas would be out a few weeks or if it's going to be longer than that," Cornrich said.

Polian spoke Thursday morning at a CEO Forum at the University of Saint Francis in Fort Wayne, Ind., where he told the audience about Clark: "He's got an injury to his wrist, which is a relatively rare injury. He's visiting a doctor in Cleveland today. He's due to come in and talk late this afternoon when he gets back and I get back. I don't know what the prognosis is. This is not the kind of injury that is very common where our doctors can say 'Hey, look, this is a four-week injury or this is a six-week injury.' So we'll know more later tonight."

Clark is tied for fourth in the NFL in receptions, but he leads tight ends with 37. He has 347 receiving yards and three touchdowns. He had 100 receptions for 1,106 yards in 2009 season.

Three-year pro Jacob Tamme will fill in for Clark. Tamme has played in 34 games and has six catches for 47 yards, none this season.

La Canfora reported Wednesday, citing a league source, that Addai could miss several weeks because he sustained nerve damage in his left shoulder. He suffered the injury last Sunday against the Washington Redskins.

The Colts also announced Thursday that backup defensive tackle Antonio Johnson, who has eight tackles in six games this season, underwent knee surgery.

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