Gary Brackett Injury

[swflacoltsfans]

What is the status of Gary Brackett? I thought I saw him go back into the game after he was hurt, but someone else said he could be out awhile.

Looked like it was his shoulder.

[grmasterb]

Phillip B. Wilson reported in his blog last night that Brackett has a shoulder sprain. Sims suffered a knee sprain.

[jskinnz]

Phillip B. Wilson reported in his blog last night that Brackett has a shoulder sprain. Sims suffered a knee sprain.

Those are terms the team uses when they have not really had the chance to run tests to determine the injury's severity. If Brackett's arm and Sims' knee were visibly ripped off their bodies, the team would still say it is a sprain and their return is questionable.

[joemama]

I think Brackett is the main problem with this D. Get him out of there and we will be able to stop the run.

[chrisfarley]

Sims injury looks pretty severe, not sure about Brackett. MRI's will be done today.

[turner46992]

I would guess Sims injury is probably some ligament tear or acl strain...it didnt look good at all, but Bracketts injury I just seen him get up holding his shoulder, so hopefullly it was just dislocated or something of that nature,

[Smitto]

I think Brackett is the main problem with this D. Get him out of there and we will be able to stop the run.

well like warren sapp said, "your defense is only as good as your MLB" im not sure about that one but i do agree that the LB core is the essence of your defense cause they rack up the most tackles.

[Colts20593]

Right now I like Angerer at MLB more than Brackett

[HitStick21]

Right now I like Angerer at MLB more than Brackett

Couldn't agree more. I don't dislike Brackett, I want him around for a while because he is the heart and sould of that D (along w/ Bethea)... but wow, Angerer just controls the D from the MLB position. He is the future if we don't let him run away because he ends up being a great LB'er.

[Jason_]

I've said for many years that brackett is not an elite MLB. Some feel he would be better suited at SAM whereas I think he'd be better at WILL. Regardless, on any other team I think Brackett is lucky to make second string. We are slowly but surely getting bigger at LB (look at Wheeler, Moten, Angerer vs. guys from a few years back like Cato June and Gilbert Gardner) but we still have a ways to go. There are some monster MLB's that should be coming out of the draft this next year and I really hope we are able to take one of them.

[chad72]

I've said for many years that brackett is not an elite MLB. Some feel he would be better suited at SAM whereas I think he'd be better at WILL. Regardless, on any other team I think Brackett is lucky to make second string. We are slowly but surely getting bigger at LB (look at Wheeler, Moten, Angerer vs. guys from a few years back like Cato June and Gilbert Gardner) but we still have a ways to go. There are some monster MLB's that should be coming out of the draft this next year and I really hope we are able to take one of them.

Yep, depending on the draft position, I do like Manti Teo of Notre Dame as a future Brian Urlacher.

[Blackhawk4]

I've said for many years that brackett is not an elite MLB. Some feel he would be better suited at SAM whereas I think he'd be better at WILL. Regardless, on any other team I think Brackett is lucky to make second string. We are slowly but surely getting bigger at LB (look at Wheeler, Moten, Angerer vs. guys from a few years back like Cato June and Gilbert Gardner) but we still have a ways to go. There are some monster MLB's that should be coming out of the draft this next year and I really hope we are able to take one of them.

Whoa whoa whoa....Wheeler....big? I hope you're joking because he weighs about 229-232....that isn't big at all. While we have gotten bigger we also still have some key problems such as tackling....Bigger isn't always better and while some of the bigger linebackers we got have shown their ability to play it was shown even they had tackling problems against the Texans RBs. Brackett is a good MLB/above average MLB. He's definitely not elite, but he's a good MLB.

[Jason_]

Whoa whoa whoa....Wheeler....big? I hope you're joking because he weighs about 229-232....that isn't big at all. While we have gotten bigger we also still have some key problems such as tackling....Bigger isn't always better and while some of the bigger linebackers we got have shown their ability to play it was shown even they had tackling problems against the Texans RBs. Brackett is a good MLB/above average MLB. He's definitely not elite, but he's a good MLB.

Phillip Wheeler...http://www.nfl.com/player/philipwheeler/330/profile

According to that he's 6'2" and 240 lbs. That's what I'm going by since I can't actually weigh him myself and that is much bigger than our LB's were say 3-5 years ago. I do agree that tackling needs to improve as well. They need to start wrapping up and stop trying to get a hard hit on every play. From what I've seen they seem more inclined to try and hit the ball carrier, maybe to knock the ball loose but they don't actually knock the ball carrier down.

Back to Brackett, I'll give him above-average at best. Simply put he's a coverage LB but he's a liability against the run. Just because he sometimes looks better than our other LB's doesn't mean he's good.

To Chad, yeah I'm becoming familiar with that guy. Courtney Upshaw or Dont'a Hightower from Alabama would be worth looking at as well. For those interested, here's an early list of the top 12 interior LB prospects for the 2012 draft:

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Top Draft 2012 Prospects -- (Updated 9/9/2011)

Rank Player *. Po.Rank School Class Ht. Wt. 40 Time

23 Courtney Upshaw ILB 1 Alabama Sr 6-2 265 4.76

25 *Manti Te'o ILB 2 Notre Dame Jr 6-2 255 4.59

29 *Don'ta Hightower ILB 3 Alabama rJr 6-4 260 4.74

42 *Vontaze Burfict ILB 4 Arizona St. Jr 6-3 250 4.67

44 *Luke Kuechly ILB 5 Boston Co. Jr 6-2 237 4.79

92 James Johnson ILB 6 Nevada rSr 6-1 240 4.68

116 Emmanuel Acho ILB 7 Texas Sr 6-2 245 4.79

134 Audie Cole ILB 8 N.C. State rSr 6-4 239 4.84

150 *Arthur Brown ILB 9 Kansas State rJr 6-1 225 4.58

153 Mychal Kendricks ILB 10 California Sr 5-11 240 4.72

167 Chris Galippo ILB 11 USC rSr 6-2 250 4.74

199 Jerry Franklin ILB 12 Arkansas rSr 6-1 245 4.60

[chad72]

Phillip Wheeler...http://www.nfl.com/player/philipwheeler/330/profile

According to that he's 6'2" and 240 lbs. That's what I'm going by since I can't actually weigh him myself and that is much bigger than our LB's were say 3-5 years ago. I do agree that tackling needs to improve as well. They need to start wrapping up and stop trying to get a hard hit on every play. From what I've seen they seem more inclined to try and hit the ball carrier, maybe to knock the ball loose but they don't actually knock the ball carrier down.

Back to Brackett, I'll give him above-average at best. Simply put he's a coverage LB but he's a liability against the run. Just because he sometimes looks better than our other LB's doesn't mean he's good.

To Chad, yeah I'm becoming familiar with that guy. Courtney Upshaw or Dont'a Hightower from Alabama would be worth looking at as well. For those interested, here's an early list of the top 12 interior LB prospects for the 2012 draft:

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Copyright NFLDraftScout.com, distributed by The Sports Xchange Year: Position:

Top Draft 2012 Prospects -- (Updated 9/9/2011)

Rank Player *. Po.Rank School Class Ht. Wt. 40 Time

23 Courtney Upshaw ILB 1 Alabama Sr 6-2 265 4.76

25 *Manti Te'o ILB 2 Notre Dame Jr 6-2 255 4.59

29 *Don'ta Hightower ILB 3 Alabama rJr 6-4 260 4.74

42 *Vontaze Burfict ILB 4 Arizona St. Jr 6-3 250 4.67

44 *Luke Kuechly ILB 5 Boston Co. Jr 6-2 237 4.79

92 James Johnson ILB 6 Nevada rSr 6-1 240 4.68

116 Emmanuel Acho ILB 7 Texas Sr 6-2 245 4.79

134 Audie Cole ILB 8 N.C. State rSr 6-4 239 4.84

150 *Arthur Brown ILB 9 Kansas State rJr 6-1 225 4.58

153 Mychal Kendricks ILB 10 California Sr 5-11 240 4.72

167 Chris Galippo ILB 11 USC rSr 6-2 250 4.74

199 Jerry Franklin ILB 12 Arkansas rSr 6-1 245 4.60

Good list. The reason I said Manti Teo was because his combination of size and speed does not happen often and he might get lost in a 3-4 vs fit right in the middle as a 4-3 MLB that can actually hit and be strong enough to shed O-line blockers better than the ones we have, IMO. He is rangy in coverage which fits right into the Urlacher mold to me as well.

[Balzer40]

I would also agree that I would rather have Angerer in at MLB than Brackett.

[chad72]

I would also agree that I would rather have Angerer in at MLB than Brackett.

That one pre-season game vs the Packers, Angerer at MLB looked very natural to me. Yeah, he was beat by Jermichael Finley but that was one heck of a throw and a heck of a catch despite some contested D by Angerer.

[BOTT]

other than the 09 season brackett has never been that good...although he's paid like it

[Moncrief]

Phillip Wheeler...http://www.nfl.com/player/philipwheeler/330/profile

According to that he's 6'2" and 240 lbs. That's what I'm going by since I can't actually weigh him myself and that is much bigger than our LB's were say 3-5 years ago. I do agree that tackling needs to improve as well. They need to start wrapping up and stop trying to get a hard hit on every play. From what I've seen they seem more inclined to try and hit the ball carrier, maybe to knock the ball loose but they don't actually knock the ball carrier down.

Back to Brackett, I'll give him above-average at best. Simply put he's a coverage LB but he's a liability against the run. Just because he sometimes looks better than our other LB's doesn't mean he's good.

To Chad, yeah I'm becoming familiar with that guy. Courtney Upshaw or Dont'a Hightower from Alabama would be worth looking at as well. For those interested, here's an early list of the top 12 interior LB prospects for the 2012 draft:

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Copyright NFLDraftScout.com, distributed by The Sports Xchange Year: Position:

Top Draft 2012 Prospects -- (Updated 9/9/2011)

Rank Player *. Po.Rank School Class Ht. Wt. 40 Time

23 Courtney Upshaw ILB 1 Alabama Sr 6-2 265 4.76

25 *Manti Te'o ILB 2 Notre Dame Jr 6-2 255 4.59

29 *Don'ta Hightower ILB 3 Alabama rJr 6-4 260 4.74

42 *Vontaze Burfict ILB 4 Arizona St. Jr 6-3 250 4.67

44 *Luke Kuechly ILB 5 Boston Co. Jr 6-2 237 4.79

92 James Johnson ILB 6 Nevada rSr 6-1 240 4.68

116 Emmanuel Acho ILB 7 Texas Sr 6-2 245 4.79

134 Audie Cole ILB 8 N.C. State rSr 6-4 239 4.84

150 *Arthur Brown ILB 9 Kansas State rJr 6-1 225 4.58

153 Mychal Kendricks ILB 10 California Sr 5-11 240 4.72

167 Chris Galippo ILB 11 USC rSr 6-2 250 4.74

199 Jerry Franklin ILB 12 Arkansas rSr 6-1 245 4.60

I'm telling you right now, Vontaze Burfict is the linebacker to have.

[ruksak]

other than the 09 season brackett has never been that good...although he's paid like it

Brackett is a flat-out playmaker. Time and time again, the dude makes big plays when we need them. Thats why he gets paid. We have a sad history of drafting extraordinary LB's and then letting them go when contract time arrives. One of Polian's biggest regrets was letting Mike Peterson go, another in a line of LB's that should've been retained. He (Polian) wasn't going to let that happen again, hence the big money contract to Brackett. Fans would've beat Polian to pieces for letting him go as well.

[Horse Shoe Heaven]

Brackett is a flat-out playmaker. Time and time again, the dude makes big plays when we need them. Thats why he gets paid. We have a sad history of drafting extraordinary LB's and then letting them go when contract time arrives. One of Polian's biggest regrets was letting Mike Peterson go, another in a line of LB's that should've been retained. He (Polian) wasn't going to let that happen again, hence the big money contract to Brackett. Fans would've beat Polian to pieces for letting him go as well.

This is correct

[LaughingAtIrsay]

Phillip Wheeler...http://www.nfl.com/player/philipwheeler/330/profile

According to that he's 6'2" and 240 lbs. That's what I'm going by since I can't actually weigh him myself and that is much bigger than our LB's were say 3-5 years ago. I do agree that tackling needs to improve as well. They need to start wrapping up and stop trying to get a hard hit on every play. From what I've seen they seem more inclined to try and hit the ball carrier, maybe to knock the ball loose but they don't actually knock the ball carrier down.

Back to Brackett, I'll give him above-average at best. Simply put he's a coverage LB but he's a liability against the run. Just because he sometimes looks better than our other LB's doesn't mean he's good.

To Chad, yeah I'm becoming familiar with that guy. Courtney Upshaw or Dont'a Hightower from Alabama would be worth looking at as well. For those interested, here's an early list of the top 12 interior LB prospects for the 2012 draft:

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Copyright NFLDraftScout.com, distributed by The Sports Xchange Year: Position:

Top Draft 2012 Prospects -- (Updated 9/9/2011)

Rank Player *. Po.Rank School Class Ht. Wt. 40 Time

23 Courtney Upshaw ILB 1 Alabama Sr 6-2 265 4.76

25 *Manti Te'o ILB 2 Notre Dame Jr 6-2 255 4.59

29 *Don'ta Hightower ILB 3 Alabama rJr 6-4 260 4.74

42 *Vontaze Burfict ILB 4 Arizona St. Jr 6-3 250 4.67

44 *Luke Kuechly ILB 5 Boston Co. Jr 6-2 237 4.79

92 James Johnson ILB 6 Nevada rSr 6-1 240 4.68

116 Emmanuel Acho ILB 7 Texas Sr 6-2 245 4.79

134 Audie Cole ILB 8 N.C. State rSr 6-4 239 4.84

150 *Arthur Brown ILB 9 Kansas State rJr 6-1 225 4.58

153 Mychal Kendricks ILB 10 California Sr 5-11 240 4.72

167 Chris Galippo ILB 11 USC rSr 6-2 250 4.74

199 Jerry Franklin ILB 12 Arkansas rSr 6-1 245 4.60

I saw that Vontaze Burfict from Arizona State.. He is a BALLER!! I wouldn't mind seeing rockin a

[GoColts8818]

Brackett is a flat-out playmaker. Time and time again, the dude makes big plays when we need them. Thats why he gets paid. We have a sad history of drafting extraordinary LB's and then letting them go when contract time arrives. One of Polian's biggest regrets was letting Mike Peterson go, another in a line of LB's that should've been retained. He (Polian) wasn't going to let that happen again, hence the big money contract to Brackett. Fans would've beat Polian to pieces for letting him go as well.

To add to this I saw it reported by just about anyone who reports on Colts news that said while Brackett signed a five year deal it was really three year deal and the Colts would either release him or redo the deal and that Brackett was not going to be the cap hit he looks to be in years four and five of the deal.

[21isSuperman]

Those are terms the team uses when they have not really had the chance to run tests to determine the injury's severity. If Brackett's arm and Sims' knee were visibly ripped off their bodies, the team would still say it is a sprain and their return is questionable.

rotfl I could just see that press conference.

Caldwell: "Gary and Ernie both had their arm and leg torn off respectively. They tried icing it and came out to run on their injuries before the start of the 2nd half, but weren't feeling too confident. We kept them on the exercise bikes and kept their limbs on ice just in case it was a stinger and our staff could stitch them back on. They are questionable for next week's game."

[Douzer]

I also agree Angerer should have the MLB job now. Gary's been playing out of position his whole career. Put him outside where he belongs.

[Coffeedrinker]

Brackett is a flat-out playmaker. Time and time again, the dude makes big plays when we need them.

That is what makes it tough to take him out. I'm a huge Brackett fan and I think he's under-rated by many, but he makes some bone head plays but man, time and time again through the years when it's crunch time, more often than not, Brackett makes a crucial play. I just wish he'd play like that an entire game.

Thats why he gets paid. We have a sad history of drafting extraordinary LB's and then letting them go when contract time arrives. One of Polian's biggest regrets was letting Mike Peterson go, another in a line of LB's that should've been retained.

That's not true, he has never commented on regretting not signing Peterson. I even remember the quote when they did not sign him, Polian told Dungy, "Mike has always been a good LB for us." To which Dungy replied, "At these prices you need them to be great." Now if you meant to say Thornton, he (Polian) has mentioned that several times, but he states it was out of his control. That the NFL miscalculated some bonuses for Manning and Harrison that showed the Colts were over the cap. By the time they got it all straightened out, Thornton had signed with the Titans.

[Coffeedrinker]

All this talk about Brackett being out of position, I disagree. He's not strong enough to play SAM in this D and he doesn't tackle well enough to be a WILL, although he would do okay there because of his coverage skills. But Angerer is definitely playing out of position at SAM. When he(Angerer) plays MIKE he looks like a natural, when he plays SAM he looks like he is thinking too much.

[BOTT]

Brackett is a flat-out playmaker. Time and time again, the dude makes big plays when we need them. Thats why he gets paid. We have a sad history of drafting extraordinary LB's and then letting them go when contract time arrives. One of Polian's biggest regrets was letting Mike Peterson go, another in a line of LB's that should've been retained. He (Polian) wasn't going to let that happen again, hence the big money contract to Brackett. Fans would've beat Polian to pieces for letting him go as well.

bracket is a flat out playmaker and the colts draft extraordinary linebackers....i don't know which statement is more hilarious.

[jbaron04]

we need a bigger sronger lb core our little guys can shed the block and a nt is top priority when u have to use 6'1" 265 pound foster as a nt u have serious problems

[chad72]

All this talk about Brackett being out of position, I disagree. He's not strong enough to play SAM in this D and he doesn't tackle well enough to be a WILL, although he would do okay there because of his coverage skills. But Angerer is definitely playing out of position at SAM. When he(Angerer) plays MIKE he looks like a natural, when he plays SAM he looks like he is thinking too much.

Couldn't agree more. Angerer's future is at MIKE. Brackett might stand a chance at WILL since he drops into his zones pretty soundly and he will more likely have a TE on him versus an OL (depends on the angle he takes and the direction of the play of course) on run plays, and could shed the block, maybe a little more easily to make the tackle???

[1959Colts]

I have been saying for years on this forum. Watch Brackett closely!

Brackett either runs away from the ball carrier, or he engages the blocker and gets pushed way out of the play.

Then after the tackle is made, when they unpile, Brackett is nowhere to be found. Nowhere on my 55" wide screen tv picture!

I see this time and time again.

The Colts management insist on playing Brackett at MLB 100% of the time. So sure he makes a few plays and a tackle now and then.

But because of Gary Brackett (and his big contract) They have to put Angerer out of position at OLB.

Angerer's natural position is MLB. Not Outside LB.

Did anyone notice, after Brackett left the game with the injury, Angerer looked much better at MLB,

and the defense miraculously improved!

The Colts should consider only using Brackett in obvious pass situations.

[indy_nick]

I think Bracket is playing himself out of Indy. We have Angerer sitting right behind him learning, and he is starting to prove himself. With his huge contract and lack of performance in recent games, I feel we might be drafting a LB, trading/releasing Bracket, and using his cap room elsewhere.

[Andy]

how bad is the injury?

[Smitto]

how bad is the injury?

when asked he said its soreness.. but the colts "are still evaluating" so who knows.

[Jason_]

I have been saying for years on this forum. Watch Brackett closely!

Brackett either runs away from the ball carrier, or he engages the blocker and gets pushed way out of the play.

Then after the tackle is made, when they unpile, Brackett is nowhere to be found. Nowhere on my 55" wide screen tv picture!

I see this time and time again.

The Colts management insist on playing Brackett at MLB 100% of the time. So sure he makes a few plays and a tackle now and then.

But because of Gary Brackett (and his big contract) They have to put Angerer out of position at OLB.

Angerer's natural position is MLB. Not Outside LB.

Did anyone notice, after Brackett left the game with the injury, Angerer looked much better at MLB,

and the defense miraculously improved!

The Colts should consider only using Brackett in obvious pass situations.

I could not agree more. Brackett is one of the better coverage LB's...I'll give him that, which is why I always say I'd prefer to see him at WILL but even better on the bench except for in obvious passing downs. Then move Angerer back to his natural position of MIKE (and ONLY run the tampa 2 in passing downs when Brackett is in) and either Wheeler, Conner or Moten at SAM.

NT, a monster LB, SS, CB and a big, physical WR are my wish list for next year's draft.

[OLD FAN MAN]

Brackett is a flat-out playmaker. Time and time again, the dude makes big plays when we need them. Thats why he gets paid. We have a sad history of drafting extraordinary LB's and then letting them go when contract time arrives. One of Polian's biggest regrets was letting Mike Peterson go, another in a line of LB's that should've been retained. He (Polian) wasn't going to let that happen again, hence the big money contract to Brackett. Fans would've beat Polian to pieces for letting him go as well.

our front office dosent seem to want to pay lbs, when they develop they want more money and are let go . we need a ray lewis type mlb .has hughes ever played linebacker he is big and fast

[GoColts8818]

when asked he said its soreness.. but the colts "are still evaluating" so who knows.

it means he's going to be questionable on the injury report all week and probably called a game time decision and when asked about it the rest of the week Coach Caldwell will say "if it were a playoff game he could play for sure."

[GoColts8818]

our front office dosent seem to want to pay lbs, when they develop they want more money and are let go . we need a ray lewis type mlb .has hughes ever played linebacker he is big and fast

No we don't and the fact Brackett is the one we've kept should tell you something about him. Ray Lewis type linebackers don't grow on trees and sure as heck don't last to the end of round one where we have been picking. We have much bigger issues on this team than the linebacking spot, like the o-line, D-line, cornerback, and special teams.

[ruksak]

our front office dosent seem to want to pay lbs, when they develop they want more money and are let go . we need a ray lewis type mlb .has hughes ever played linebacker he is big and fast

Heck...."Ray Lewis types" are available by the bakers dozen. I think we should go get 3 or 4 Ray Lewis' just for extra measure.

[coltsfanej]

No we don't and the fact Brackett is the one we've kept should tell you something about him. Ray Lewis type linebackers don't grow on trees and sure as heck don't last to the end of round one where we have been picking. We have much bigger issues on this team than the linebacking spot, like the o-line, D-line, cornerback, and special teams.

I agree, we are good at picking up LBs late in drafts that can produce. Conner-7th, Angerer-2nd, Brackett-UDFA... We dont have to take first round guys.I also think WR is going to be a need. Reggie only has a few years left in him and is in contract year, Garcon is in a contract year and is not a number 1 Wideout, Collie has injury issues and is a slot guy.

I think some people think Ray lewis LBs are just sitting around waiting for us to draft or sign them. I mean how many guys like him are there? Maybe Willis and Beason, and a couple others that are comparable?

[coltsfanej]

Heck...."Ray Lewis types" are available by the bakers dozen. I think we should go get 3 or 4 Ray Lewis' just for extra measure.

Thats what Im saying. Add some depth ... Im sure the 49ers would take a 6th or 7th rounder for Willis, since these type of players are so common.