Indianapolis Colts star cornerback Sauce Gardner will miss “some time” due to a left calf injury, coach Shane Steichen said Monday.
Steichen declined to outline a specific timetable for Gardner’s return, but the coach did say the cornerback won’t be placed on injured reserve and that he expects Gardner to suit up again for the Colts this season. The cornerback’s absence will be a big loss for Indianapolis to overcome, but it’s still a relief for him and the team that further testing did not reveal an Achilles injury.
“It’s his calf,” Steichen said. “His Achilles is good to go.”
Gardner exited Sunday’s loss to the Houston Texans after playing just two snaps. He came up lame while being blocked by Texans tight end Cade Stover and needed to be helped off the field and back to the locker room.
“Felt like I got shot in the calf or something, but it was like high (in my calf),” Gardner said after the game. “I wasn’t fearing (an Achilles injury). I wasn’t thinking it.”
Gardner was quickly ruled out for the remainder of the game. He returned to the sideline while using crutches and wearing a boot on his lower left leg. Despite the injury, Gardner appeared to be in relatively good spirits as he interacted with his coaches and teammates during Indy’s eventual 20-16 loss.
The Colts acquired Gardner, 25, in a massive trade with the New York Jets on Nov. 4. Indianapolis shipped its next two first-round picks and wide receiver AD Mitchell to New York in exchange for Gardner, who was the 2022 No. 4 pick and Defensive Rookie of the Year. Gardner is also the only cornerback since the NFL merger in 1970 to have earned a first-team All-Pro selection in each of his first two seasons.
Gardner was supposed to give Indianapolis a boost amid its playoff push, but now it appears the Colts will have to make at least part of that push without him. The Colts were in first place in the AFC after defeating the Atlanta Falcons in Week 10, which was Gardner’s franchise debut, but that was their only victory in November. Indianapolis has now lost back-to-back games for the first time this season and three of its last four.
The Colts will likely turn to Jaylon Jones and Mekhi Blackmon while Gardner is out. Jones, a 2023 seventh-round pick, has started 28 games over the past three years. Blackmon, a 2023 third-round pick whom the Colts acquired in an August trade with the Minnesota Vikings, has started seven games this year.
“That’s the NFL. Guys are gonna get hurt. Guys are gonna get injured and miss time,” Steichen said. “… You gotta put the pieces together and scheme it up and put your guys in position to go be successful. Whoever’s out there, we got faith and trust in whoever steps into that role and how we use them.”