Indianapolis Colts NFL Trade and Roster Rumors: Colts Release Vontae Davis After He Took His Complaints Public
Two-time Pro Bowler Vontae Davis is no longer a member of the Indianapolis Colts.
The Colts have announced that they have officially parted ways with Davis on Thursday after the veteran cornerback publicly complained about the way the organization handled his demotion.
"We love Vontae. I love Vontae. I'm grateful for the contributions that he's made over the last six years. We've been together for a long time; he's done a lot of great things for us. But we're putting this to bed — we're not going to talk about it anymore, we're not going to answer anymore questions about it," Colts head coach Chuck Pagano said, via the team's official website.
Davis' issues with the Colts started when he was benched in favor of Pierre Desir when they took on the Houston Texans last Sunday. He was listed as inactive due to a non-football injury, but the ninth-year pro told reporters on Wednesday he has been dealing with a lingering groin injury since the preseason and he felt disrespected because the Colts made it seemed like he was benched for performance reasons.
The Colts have already been heavily criticized for the way they handled quarterback Andrew Luck's shoulder injury, but to be fair to the organization, general manager Chris Ballard has denied Davis was hurt last week during an appearance on WFNI ESPN 107.5's "The Ride with JMV" podcast on Wednesday.
"At no point did we think he was hurt last week," Ballard said, via the Indianapolis Star. "We're straight with our records. We have not tried to fudge any part of it," he added.
Pagano has also said that Davis was benched due to his performance.
The Colts clearly didn't think the injury was affected his play, but Davis consulted with independent doctors and they advised him to undergo season-ending surgery to fix the damage to his injured groin.
In any case, Davis probably won't play again this season if the injury is really that serious.
