Tony Dungy has coached long enough to know not to look at early injury reports. Sometimes, it takes a couple of days to digest the cost of victory.
"Once, Dallas Clark [supposedly] had an ACL and was going to be out for the year and he was back," Dungy said.
The Colts suffered some losses during their 38-20 victory over the Broncos Sunday. Outside linebacker Rob Morris did suffer what is expected to be a season-ending knee injury. Wide receiver Marvin Harrison had a leg rolled up on a blocking play and suffered a knee injury. He came back in the game but only lasted two plays.
Halfback Joseph Addai injured a shoulder, but he could have finished the game. Safety
Bob Sanders injured his ribs. The injury list was long and concerning.
"I really don't know what the status is yet," Dungy said. "I hesitate to even think. We had a couple of knees but don't know the extent of them. It was a physical game."
Broncos halfback Travis Henry was tackled on his knee and also had to leave the game. Though he was able to return, he was limping noticeably afterward. Rookie defensive tackle
Marcus Thomas sprained a knee.
"You just hope and pray these guys are going to be OK," Colts quarterback Peyton Manning said. "Certainly, today it seemed like a lot. We had a lot of new faces in there. Coach Dungy always says guys got to be ready to step up and step in and we did that, but you hope we can get some of these guys back."
Henry, who rushed 24 times for 121 yards and is the Broncos' top
rusher, was hurt when Freddie Keiaho tackled him after a 1-yard gain
and Henry's right leg was caught underneath.
He stayed on the field and clasped his face mask with both hands
before he limped to the bench, where doctors worked on his ankle.
Harrison was hurt when two players ran into him while Harrison
was blocking for Addai late in the first quarter. Harrison
limped off the field, missed one play, then caught his first pass
of the game. He remained on the field for the final four plays of
Indy's first touchdown drive.
But after coming off the field following the drive, he consulted
with team doctors and went to the locker room.
Harrison is the Colts' career leader in receptions, yards
receiving and touchdown catches and ranks fourth on the NFL's
career reception list (1,039).
Morris, who missed the Colts' last two games with an abdominal
strain, was hurt when Denver tight end Daniel Graham was blocking
him on a running play. Morris crumpled to the ground, took off his
helmet and put his hands on his face before being helped onto a
golf cart and taken off the field. There was no immediate comment
from the team on Morris' injury.
Morris was the Colts' first-round choice in 2000 and was a key
ingredient in Indy's Super Bowl run after moving from middle
linebacker to outside linebacker, where he regained the starting
job late last season.
John Clayton is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.