The Indianapolis Colts announced on Sunday that starting left tackle Bernhard Raimann (elbow) has been downgraded from questionable to out for Monday Night football’s home game against the San Francisco 49ers.
Raimann was able to practice on a limited basis on Saturday for the first time all week, with an arm brace on his injured right elbow. However, it doesn’t appear as though the elbow was healthy enough to play with quite yet.
The 4th-year left tackle was injured late in the first half during Week 15’s road loss against the Seattle Seahawks, and while he was officially designated as questionable, he did not return to action in that one.
Instead, it was recently promoted left tackle Luke Tenuta from the practice squad who replaced Raimann with the Colts first-team offense. It’s likely that the Colts will turn to Tenuta yet again for his first career start.
The team signed veteran Zach Thomas to the practice squad earlier this week, and it seems likely that he’ll be elevated to the 53-man active roster on game day for additional positional depth. The fellow 4th-year offensive tackle has appeared in 17 career games.
While longtime veteran quarterback Philip Rivers has always been lauded for his ability to predict and sense the opposing pass rush, with a quick throwing release, he also has zero mobility. It’s also a fair question of whether at 44-years-old, he’ll be able to withstand a number of big hits if the Colts can’t consistently protect his blindside.
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