San Diego Chargers linebacker Manti Te'o has reportedly suffered a fractured foot and will be out for the foreseeable future.
Michael Gehlken of U-T San Diego reported the news Monday, and he noted that this is the third foot injury Te'o has sustained since entering the NFL as a 2013 second-round draft pick.
Te'o had 61 combined tackles in 13 starts as a rookie, but he was on a superior pace to start this season, racking up 19 tackles in just three games. Despite hurting himself in the Chargers' Week 3 win at Buffalo, he still had 10 tackles.
Before the 2014 campaign began, Te'o seemed confident that he'd step up in his second season as a pro, per Gehlken :
The offseason was great. Rookie year is possibly the hardest year. Everyone told me that it was. You go non-stop. It's all football from your last game in college to preparing for the combine to preparing for the draft to getting drafted and then coming straight to rookie minicamp and going through the real thing. The offseason allowed me to just get some away time and get a jumpstart in my workouts. It was good.
Comcast Sportsnet's John Middlekauff weighed in on Te'o's encouraging start to the year:
While the evident progress in Te'o's play at inside linebacker is a big positive, it also makes his absence all the more glaring and tough for San Diego to take.
Reggie Walker and Kavell Conner are the top candidates to replace Te'o in the meantime, according to the team's official depth chart. It will be interesting to see whether the Chargers can replace someone as cerebral and strong in coverage as Te'o for an extended period of time.
The Chargers take on a trio of inexperienced quarterbacks in the next several games in Blake Bortles (Jacksonville Jaguars), Geno Smith (New York Jets) and Derek Carr (Oakland Raiders).
That is a silver lining for a team that is off to a rather strong 2-1 start, with its only loss coming to the undefeated Arizona Cardinals.
from Bleacher Report http://ift.tt/XQVPJv
via IFTTT September 22, 2014 at 07:19PM
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