Colts Lineman Matt Slauson Played Almost An Entire Half With Two Broken Vertebrae

On Monday, the Indianapolis Colts placed starting guard Matt Slauson on injured reserve with an unspecified injury. Slauson played all 83 offensive snaps in the team’s loss to the Patriots last week, and his injury was only apparent after the game. As it turns out, he had been playing since early in the third quarter with a pair of spinal fractures. The Indianapolis Star’s Zak Keefer has the terrifying details.

Slauson said today that he still feels healthy, though the risk of paralysis is obviously serious enough that he will be out for the year. There were plenty of plays in the second half of last week’s game that Slauson could have been permanently injured on without knowing why, and he also said playing through the pain was “not one of my smartest decisions.”

Slauson, 32, will be an unrestricted free agent after the season, and the Colts have asked him to stick around the team and help out the offensive line for the rest of the season. Hopefully he’ll be healthy enough this offseason to get a new contract.