The Colts’ starting offense moved down the field with little trouble against the Jets in the first quarter on Thursday night right up to the point when center Khaled Holmes left the game with a left ankle injury.
Their drive stalled at that point, in part because backup center Jonotthan Harrison snapped a ball past Andrew Luck on a third down. That was enough to illustrate Holmes’ importance to the team even before noting that guard Donald Thomas’ injury has already left the team thin on the interior of the offensive line.
Stephen Holder of the Indianapolis Star reports that Holmes, who had previous issues with his right ankle, will have an MRI on his ankle on Friday. Holder reports that the initial feeling in Indy is that Holmes will be able to return this season, but coach Chuck Pagano wasn’t making any guesses.
“We’ll wait on the results before we speculate,” Pagano said.
If Holmes is out for any extended period of time, the Colts may have to look outside the organization for help on the line as Harrison and the other in-house options are short on the experience a playoff contender might want for a backup option at the position.