INDIANAPOLIS —Deyshawn Bond's unlikely rise from undrafted, local tryout player to being thrust into the role as the Indianapolis Colts' starting center won't soon be forgotten.
But unfortunately, the Indianapolis native's improbable rookie season has hit a potentially substantial snag.
Head coach Chuck Pagano said late Monday afternoon that Bond suffered a "pretty significant quad injury" early in Sunday night's game against the Seahawks. Pagano was going to meet with team doctors later in the day Monday to determine an exact course of treatment for the injury.
"But it's significant," Pagano said, "and I feel bad for the kid."
Bond, a product of nearby Warren Central High School, signed with the Colts May 3 after going undrafted out of the University of Cincinnati. He had been steadily improving as a member of the Indianapolis 90-man offseason roster when the team's starting center, Ryan Kelly, suffered a serious foot injury during an Aug. 10 joint training camp practice with the Detroit Lions.
Bond was inserted with the first-team offense in Kelly's place at that moment, and hasn't moved since, starting the first four games of the season at center for the Colts. In doing so, he became just the fifth NFL undrafted rookie to start at center for his team in Week 1 since 2001, and just the fourth undrafted offensive lineman to start at least one game for the Colts in their rookie season, according to Pro-Football-Reference.com.
"He's done a phenomenal job of stepping in for Kelly," Pagano said of Bond. "You know, you consider a college free agent coming in here, an undrafted dude, and stepping in there and played as solid and consistent football as anybody on the offensive line."
Bond was injured on just the second play from scrimmage in the Colts' 46-18 loss to the Seahawks. Immediately calling for help from team medical personnel, Bond was carted off the field and did not return.
Taking Bond's place on Sunday was Adam Redmond, the team's third-string center. Redmond, a first-year Harvard product, had never played a regular-season snap at the position prior to Sunday's game.
A bit of potential good news for the Colts' offensive line, however, is the fact that Kelly was able to return to the practice field last week for the first time since suffering his injury. He was inactive for the Seahawks game, however.
Asked at the beginning of last week how long he expects it would take him before he's ready to get back into a game situation, Kelly said he didn't have an exact estimate. The first step, he said, was to get back into football shape after spending the previous seven weeks rehabbing.
"I mean, the last time that I actually really got down in a stance like that and hit somebody was against Detroit, so it's been seven, eight weeks or so. But I think it's kind of like riding a bicycle, so once you're a couple practices in or so you start getting used to it," Kelly said. "But I think just conditioning-wise and getting back into football shape, it's amazing how fast you can get out of it. So that will certainly come with time. But (I'm) working every day just to stay in shape and get stronger, so looking forward to it."
Pagano said Monday that Kelly saw his workload increase each day last week, and experienced no setbacks.
"He came out good," Pagano said. "So it'd be good timing if we got him back."
In other Colts injury-related news, Pagano said No. 1 tight end Jack Doyle has entered the league's concussion protocol. He exited Sunday's game against the Seahawks late in the third quarter and did not return.
