Indianapolis Colts running back Vick Ballard has been limited to one game over the past two seasons due to an Achilles tear and an ACL injury. This comes after a promising 2012 rookie season where he totaled 966 yards and three touchdowns.
Making some major moves at running back over the past two years, the Colts traded for Trent Richardson before releasing him after less than two years with the team. More importantly, Indianapolis signed veteran running back Frank Gore—a move that’s going to give the team more balance on offense in 2015.
Ballard, who knows full well that he’s in a do-or-die situation with the Colts in training camp, had this to report about his status with the team (via the Indianapolis Star).
“Sometimes, it feels like a lot of people just forgot about me. I was just telling my mom the other day, this could be it for me.”
Colts general manager Ryan Grigson certainly isn’t sugar-coating the situation relating to Ballard heading into the summer months.
“Two years is a long time not to play football, there’s no doubt about it. The only thing he needs to do is get a devil-may-care mindset,” Grigson said, via NFL.com. “Because if you think about getting hurt, or you’re concerned about getting hurt again, then you probably will.”
Ballard has an uphill path ahead of him to have any chance at gaining the backup role behind Gore. The team relied upon Dan “Boom” Herron the latter part of the 2014 season. He played pretty well in limited action. It also drafted Josh Robinson earlier this month.
Perhaps if Ballard can stay healthy, his fourth time will be a charm.
Photo: USA Today Sports