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INDIANAPOLIS – For all team activities in 2018, the Colts have been without their starting safeties.
That will continue for the start of Training Camp this week.
Both Malik Hooker and Clayton Geathers will open up camp on the physically unable to perform list. Going on PUP means those two guys still count against the team’s 90-man roster, but can return to practice at any time during camp, if removed from the list.
For Hooker, the Colts are holding out a few more weeks until the second-year safety is 9 months removed from ACL surgery. Hooker tore his ACL on Oct. 22, 2017, with surgery coming a couple of weeks later.
Chris Ballard has thrown out the date of August 9th or 10th for that 9-month, post-surgery, date for Hooker.
“That’s the day where the statistics tell you that the chance of re-injuring the ACL significantly drops, and each week out from then it continues to significantly drop,” Ballard said of Hooker returning in ‘early-to-mid’ August.
“We think he will be good for the second part of the preseason and into the season. Anytime you are coming back from an ACL it takes time though.”
It’s looking like Hooker will miss at least the preseason opener in August.
With Geathers, he also missed the entire spring.
But Ballard said the reason for Geathers missing time wasn’t because of the neck injury, which sidelined him for a chunk of the 2017 season.
Geathers had a knee procedure earlier in the offseason, after a cleaning was needed following his handful of games played late last year.
Ballard said Geathers is around ’80-to-85 percent’ right now, which is why the Colts put him on PUP.
“How long he’s on there, I’m not quite sure, but he’s pretty close,” Ballard said. “He’s worked his tail off and he’s pretty good to being ready to go.
This is a contract year for Geathers as his career has not blossomed like many thought following a promising start.
So when the Colts begin practicing on Thursday, they will have backup safeties Matthias Farley and T.J. Green in the starting lineup.
