Colts Get Brutal Injury News Ahead of Week 10 Matchup with Falcons

BERLIN, DE – The Atlanta Falcons hopped on a transatlantic flight to take on the 7-2 Indianapolis Colts in Berlin. The Falcons will be without a pair of starters for this Week 10 matchup, but the Colts got some unfortunate news of their own on Thursday.

Indianapolis will be without one of its best defenders on Sunday after the team ruled out defensive lineman DeForest Buckner due to a neck injury. He will not travel with the Colts to Germany for the game.

In nine games this season, Buckner is second on the team with 33 quarterback pressures, just three behind Laiatu Latu. His 24 run defense tackles are the most among Indianapolis defenders. He also has 42 tackles, nine tackles for loss, 13 quarterback hits, and 4.0 sacks to his credit. No defensive lineman has taken more snaps for the Colts this season.

“DeForest Buckner's a great player. Anytime you're missing a player like that, obviously, it's going to mean significant changes have to go into it,” Falcons head coach Raheem Morris said Friday. “I'm sure they'll be prepared, and they'll have people trying to fill that role on the things that he can do and how he can do it, but they've got a lot of really good players around them. They acquired one this week. I'm not sure if he's playing or not, but they'll try to make up. It definitely affects our game plan. It definitely affects us because he is a great player. Anytime you're playing a guy like that, you've got to have a plan.”

Not having the All-Pro defender will be a major hit to the Colts’ pass rush and pass defense. Their unit ranks 26th in the NFL, giving up 244.8 passing yards per game, but they are sixth with 26 sacks. Losing him on Sunday could be a major hit for their ability to slow down the Falcons' offense in Week 10.

One thing that will be a major boon for the Colts’ pass defense is this next update.

In other injury news for the Colts, cornerback Sauce Gardner has cleared concussion protocol and will likely be ready to make his debut on Sunday. The Colts made the biggest splash of the NFL trade deadline with their acquisition of Gardner. They sent a pair of first-round picks and Adonai Mitchell to the Jets for the star defensive back.

“Sauce [Gardner] is a G, right? Don't throw at the really good football player too much, right, and find ways to beat him,” Morris said. “But, like that's a great job by those guys, going to sign him. Sauce is a really good football player. We've got a lot of familiarity in his building with him. Obviously, Brich [Jeff Ulbrich] and I were able to call and congratulate him [Tuesday]. He's excited. He hasn't gotten there yet, so hopefully he'll figure it out and doesn't have a passport.”

The All-Pro corner will figure to match up with Falcons wide receiver Drake London this weekend, and that would be a fantastic matchup for fans to watch.

Kickoff in Week 10 is set for 9:30 in Berlin.