Report: Injury update on Colts All-Pro guard Quenton Nelson
Colts All-Pro guard Quenton Nelson was ruled out today after he suffered a right high ankle sprain early in the second quarter of the Colts-Titans game. The x-rays were negative. He’ll have tests to determine the full extent and timetable, according to Ian Rapoport.
Nelson later returned to the Colts sideline with his right ankle heavily wrapped. Chris Reed replaced Nelson in the lineup. The three-time All-Pro has not missed a game since being selected as the sixth overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. He’s been dealing with a number of nagging injuries during the 2021 season.
The former Notre Dame product had surgery on his right foot in the off-season, but he also had two other surgeries done. What those other surgeries were remain a secret because Nelson wants to maintain a competitive advantage over his opponents.
He’d already told fans earlier in the off-season that he didn’t want any pity. and the incredibly talented guard likely won’t want it this time around, either.
The Colts will clearly miss his presence because he’s already established himself as one of the best players in the National Football League, regardless of position.
In 2020, he made his debut on the NFL’s top 100 players and he ranked inside the top 30, at number 29.
Quenton Nelson career
Nelson has long been one of the best offensive lineman in the game at every level of football he’s played on. When he was coming out of Notre Dame, PFF graded him as the best guard prospect in the PFF era.
His 95.1 grade in 2017 was good enough for second out of the 1,403 prospects that PFF has charted. The man is in a league of his own.
Check out the chart below.
In 2017, he was named second team AP All-American at Notre Dame. In 2015, he was the critical piece of a Notre Dame offensive line that helped Notre Dame average over 5 yards per carry (eighth-best mark in FBS). In 2015, Notre Dame ran for 457 yards against UMass, the mark was the single-best rushing yardage total by Notre Dame in 23 years. There’s no question that having a dominant force like Nelson on the offensive line made that happen.
As a high school prospect, Nelson was selected as a U.S. Army All-American coming out of Red Bank Catholic (Red Bank, New Jersey). He was rated as a top 100 overall prospect in the country by most recruiting services. The six-foot-5, 330-pounder was also named second team All-USA by USA Today.