Did Kwity Paye Suffer Injury Setback vs. Raiders?
Indianapolis Colts interim head coach Jeff Saturday is 1-0 after his squad beat the Las Vegas Raiders 25-20 on Sunday, but it wasn't all good news as edge rusher Kwity Paye suffered a setback on his previously injured ankle.
Paye played just 18 snaps against the Raiders after logging 46 last week against the New England Patriots in his first game back from injury.
He was injured on October 6th against the Denver Broncos and missed the next three games.
Saturday confirmed on Monday Paye aggravated his ankle against the Raiders, but didn't have a timetable for his return.
“So Kwity was injured on Sunday," said Saturday. "So they came to me, I think it was in the second half and told me he’s probably down. That was all that I got yesterday. So, he’s on the injury report."
"I haven’t met with those guys yet. I just know that he was going to see the docs this morning."
Saturday confirmed linebacker Shaq Leonard was going to see another specialist in hopes of getting back on the field. He reiterated how important Leonard is to the team, even if he's not playing.
"Shaq, I don’t know who he is going to meet with," said Saturday. "I know that we had put him on IR and the conversations were, where do we go from here?"
"I know he’s meeting with our training staff and our docs. I’m not sure if he’s going to another doctor, which obviously is all good from my perspective just figuring out what’s going on."
"But Shaq is an incredible leader for this football team. Even being in street clothes yesterday, he is a voice that this group follows, is encouraged by and he has done a fantastic job."
"I can’t tell you how heartbroken I am for him. I know how much he loves this game and how good he is at this game. I’m disappointed for him as well, and whoever he is trying to see I’m sure is trying to get him back as soon as possible."
"That’s what guys like Shaq do – as fast as he can get back, I know he’ll want to and that’s probably what he’s going to do today."
The Colts still have an outside shot at a playoff berth, but they'll need Paye and Leonard for the stretch run. Leonard will miss at least another month, and the timetable on Paye should be clearer this week.
The Colts have a tough stretch of games that includes the Philadelphia Eagles, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Dallas Cowboys the next three weeks before a well-deserved bye week.
The results the next three weeks could determine if Leonard returns for the final month of the season or if he gets shut down until 2023.
