The season opener for the Indianapolis Colts did not go as planned as the team got upset by the Buffalo Bills. After loading up the offense with more targets for quarterback Andrew Luck to work with, the unit was relatively unproductive and things might get worse before they get better. One of the casualties of the loss was a knee injury to TY Hilton which could leave the wide receiver out for Week 2.
According to Colts' owner Jim Irsay via ESPN.com, Hilton will undergo an MRI on his injured knee that was originally ruled a bone bruise. Irsay told the media that X-rays on Hilton's knee came back negative following a collision in the fourth quarter, but the team wanted an MRI just to make sure everything is fine. However, Ian Rapoport of NFL Media is reporting that Hilton could miss one to two games depending on the extent of the injury which would leave him out for the Monday Night Football matchup against the New York Jets.
The issue with the injury to Hilton is that he was the most productive receiver for the team on Sunday after putting up 88 yards on 14 targets. Overall, the wide receiver group for the Colts looked weak despite the additions in the offseason. Rookie Phillip Dorsett had just two catches for 45 yards while Andre Johnson had just four catches despite 10 targets on the day. If Hilton is out for any period of time, Both of those receivers need to play a larger role while Dante Moncrief while also be relied upon heavily.
Frank Gore also departed Sunday's game early following a calf cramp. The running back had just eight carries for 31 yards as the Colts tried to throw more than run. The lack of attention to Gore was a surprise considering the running back signing a three-year, $12 million contract. The running game was not a factor at all in the game which head coach Chuck Pagano stressed was simply because of the scheme being showed by the opposing defense. If the Colts cannot get Gore more involved, it will force Luck into making more mistakes. For now the quarterback is stressing that the team was easily bounce back.
"It was a poor performance by us on offense," Luck said, via the team website. "We should have come out and put some points on the board and made it a good game. We had some good stops by our defense, but we obviously didn't do enough to win. They beat us up pretty badly, but we'll bounce back next week."