Unfortunately for Indianapolis Colts special teams coordinator Brian Mason, this preseason started off with a bang.
Mason, who has been with the Colts since 2023, suffered an injury on the final play of the fourth quarter Thursday night. Two players, one for the Colts and one for the Patriots, ran into him at full speed while he was standing up. Immediately after this collision occurred, Mason laid on the turf in pain.
"He got rolled up right on the sideline that last play," Colts head coach Shane Steichen said after the game. "So we’ll see. He’s getting evaluated for his knee right now."
Well, the diagnosis for Mason isn't very good. According to Joel A. Erickson of IndyStar, the belief is that Mason has multiple torn ligaments in his knee.
It's unclear if Mason will miss time for the Colts. With Week 1 less than a month away, he's up against the clock to recover from this injury.
We've seen injuries to NFL coaches before.
During the 2011 season, former New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton suffered a torn MCL after Jimmy Graham accidentally crashed into him.
"It's one of those things, the play kind of got up on me quicker," Payton told the Times-Picayune. "I think the second part of the tackle seemed maybe all of a sudden. ... At first I just thought I went down and hurt my knee then when I tried to get up I clearly felt something was up with it."
Hopefully for Mason's sake, this is the last time he ends up getting demolished on the sideline.
