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Colts RB Salvon Ahmed suffers ‘severe leg injury’ after rookie Trey Washington's hip-drop tackle
Indiana Colts running back Salvon Ahmed was injured during Sunday's practice after being tackled by rookie safety Trey Washington.
Indianapolis Colts’ running back Salvon Ahmed suffered “a severe leg injury” during practice for the NFL regular season at the training camp on Sunday. Coach Shane Steichen confirmed this, as reported by USA Today.
Salvon Ahmed’s injury update
As per USA Today, the incident started with the running back bouncing a carry to the outside and having a path to the end zone. The 26-year-old was just about to score when his fellow teammate, rookie safety Trey Washington, tackled him from behind, causing his leg to bend quite awkwardly. Washington felt incredibly upset by his role in the incident and reportedly had to be comforted by other teammates.
The Colts’ medical team soon rushed out to tend to Ahmed. He was finally taken off the field with an air cast on his injured right leg. “Never want to see that happen,” Steichen said about Ahmed's injury after practice. “We don’t encourage hip-drop tackles. I know Trey’s down in the dumps, and I don’t think he’s trying to do that. We’re just trying to create an edge, is what I’m trying to get done, especially in the developmental.”
Tackles and training camp
“Those guys are gonna have to tackle come preseason,” Steichen elaborated. “I think training camp is where you want to create the edge and the toughness and the identity of your football team, so you have live periods,” he later added. Last season, hip-drop tackles were banned and penalized with an in-game flag. Rich McKay, chairman of the NFL's competition committee, called it “the cousin of the horse-collar tackle”. Steichen also made it a point to emphasize how hard it is to deal with a hip drop tackle.
“He's chasing him down right there trying to make a play before he scores,” Steichen said of Washington's tackle. "I'm sure he obviously didn't mean to do it."Injuries happen in football. It's a very unfortunate situation for Salvon, but like I said, thoughts and prayers with him and our team will support him." Sunday’s session was mainly meant to help rookies get on their feet. Hence, tackling was allowed since it was “live.”
With contribution from Stuti Gupta
