As Spencer Shrader went through his usual pre-game routine, he felt a "ding" in his groin after a kick.
"Oh, that's not good," Shrader thought.
He tried another kick and came to grips with reality: He wasn't feeling great. Shrader went to the Colts' training staff; those trainers immediately went to work to mitigate the tweak.
Roughly four hours later, Shrader connected on a go-ahead 53-yard field goal with 16 seconds remaining, ultimately earning the Colts a 19-17 win over the Houston Texans.
Most of Shrader's teammates didn't know something was amiss until at some point in the first quarter. By the end of the game, no one could tell something was wrong at all.
"It's hard to tell by his kicks," quarterback Daniel Jones said. "They were pretty good."
To say the least.
Shrader made all four of his field goals, from 39, 58, 37 and 53 yards, as well as his lone PAT, to earn the Colts' their first win of the season – and to send the Texans to an 0-3 start. After ending his warm-ups early, he received treatment, got his leg taped up and was ready to go, with the exception of handling kickoff duties.
Punter Rigoberto Sanchez handled those magnificently, by the way, with the Texans' average field position on five kickoff returns at their own 27.4-yard line.
But thanks to that pregame treatment, Shrader went into Sunday's game with confidence that he wouldn't be limited.
"You don't want to go into the situation having any fear or uncertainty of what's going to happen," Shrader said. "Training staff did an amazing job. Felt good throughout the whole game and stayed consistent with it."
It wasn't just Shrader who trusted his leg. Head coach Shane Steichen did, too, once he learned Shrader was good to kick.
So once Laquon Treadwell flashed over the middle for a 20-yard gain to the Texans' 40-yard line, Steichen was confident the Colts were in position to win the game.
"If you can get the ball at the 48 (yard line) – It's not like, 'Oh, we feel great about it,' but it's like, 'Shoot, end of game line, I feel good,'" Steichen said. "But obviously, you want to get that ball to around the 40, the 35, in there is ideal."
A five-yard completion from Jones to wide receiver Keenan Allen got the Colts to the Texans' 36-yard line with 16 seconds left. Again: That was well within range for Shrader, whose absolute maximum range with a perfect ball strike, special teams coordinator Brian Mason shared last week, is 71 yards.
"He had confidence in himself and we had the confidence in him to go out there," tight end Mo Alie-Cox said, "and he converted every kick damn near down the middle."
For Shrader, the physical toughness he showed to get through his pregame muscle tweak is one thing. But the mental toughness is another – an injury in warm-ups can be enough to derail any player, let alone a kicker.
For the Colts' kicker though, it didn't impact him at all. Just look at the final score.
"He's as tough as any football player out here," tight end Tyler Warren said. "He plays the kicker position, but he's tough and he's going to battle through it to show up for the team."
