WESTFIELD, Ind. — A key member of the Indianapolis Colts' offense is expected to miss some time as he continues to deal with a nagging hamstring injury.
Anthony Castonzo, the team's starting left tackle, had just been brought off the Active/Non-Football Injury list on Wednesday before re-aggravating his injury during Friday's practice.
Asked how long Castonzo — who did not practice Sunday morning — will be out, head coach Frank Reich said, "He's going to miss a little bit of time."
"We want to be conservative with him," Reich said.
The timing of the injury stings for a Colts' offensive line that had just seen the returns of Castonzo and tackle Austin Howard from the NFI list heading into this Thursday's 2018 preseason opener against the Seattle Seahawks.
Cohesion is the name of the game when it comes to the offensive line, and the team had hoped that with Castonzo at left tackle, Quenton Nelson at left guard, Ryan Kelly at center, Matt Slauson at right guard and Howard at right tackle, the group was finally going to get a chance to work as one unit moving forward.
But about midway through Friday night's practice, Castonzo — who originally injured his hamstring during a private workout just before the start of training camp — limped off the field in obvious pain, and he didn't return the rest of the session.
"It was unfortunate," Reich said. "He came out and had been feeling pretty good. No indication. There was no precursor."
The Colts are also somewhat limited in their options at left tackle due to other injury issues. Denzelle Good — who had worked in at left tackle at times early on during training camp and is a prime candidate to be the team's swing tackle — also suffered a hamstring injury last week, and hasn't practiced since.
On Sunday, the Colts used recently-signed veteran J'Marcus Webb at left tackle with the first unit. Webb, who has played in 80 career games with 64 starts, didn't play in the NFL last season, but Reich has liked what he's seen out of the veteran so far.
"He's doing a nice job," Reich said. "He's doing a nice job with all things considered. Stepping in and he's a big man. He has the right frame of mind and doing good work."
Others who could see time at left tackle this preseason include Joe Haeg, Le'Raven Clark and Tyreek Burwell.
