Indianapolis Colts Place Outside Linebacker John Simon on Injured Reserve Due to Shoulder Injury
The Indianapolis Colts will have to make do without starting outside linebacker John Simon in the coming weeks because he has been officially ruled out of the final four games of the season.
The team has announced that Simon will end the season on the injured reserve list after he sustained a right shoulder in last Sunday's 30–10 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Simon was one of the few bright spots for the Colts early in the season and he would compile 38 tackles, three sacks, 12 quarterback hits, one pass defensed, and one interception he returned for a touchdown in the in the first six weeks of the 2017 campaign.
However, Simon would sustain a neck injury during their week seven loss to the Jaguars and he was forced to sit out the next three contests. The fifth-year pro return to the field when the Colts took on the Tennessee Titans on Nov. 26, but he struggled.
"John Simon's a little nicked up," Colts general manager Chris Ballard said during an appearance on 1070 The Fan's "Colts Roundtable Live" on Monday, via the team's official website.
"He was playing about as good as anybody we had at one point, but he's been a little nicked up here the last few weeks," he added.
In his absence, the Colts will have to turn to veteran outside linebacker Barkevious Mingo and rookie Tarell Basham. Both of them should see more snaps in the final weeks of the season.
"We're starting to see the flashes of pass rush from Tarell Basham," Ballard said.
"I'm proud of him, because he's working. He knows for a pass rusher in this league it takes a lot of work against these good tackles, and he's really done a nice job here over the last month working and perfecting his craft and getting better at his craft," he continued.
