The Indianapolis Colts’ biggest injury from their first preseason game might not have been to a player, but rather to a coach.
Colts special teams coordinator Brian Mason was taken out on the final play of scrimmage in the team’s 13-13 tie with the New England Patriots on Thursday night at Gillette Stadium.
Mason, 39, unsuccessfully tried to avoid the Patriots and Colts players who were barreling toward the sideline. He appeared to get hit down low and was then writhing on the ground in pain.
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"He got rolled up right on the sideline that last play," Colts head coach Shane Steichen said postgame. "So we’ll see. He’s getting evaluated for his knee right now."
Mason is entering his fourth season as the team’s special teams coordinator. Last season, his unit was strong, as the Colts ranked second in the NFL in kickoff return average (28.8) and had the lowest opponent punt return average (6.3).
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Despite utilizing three different kickers, Spencer Shrader (13-of-14), Blake Grupe (11-of-11) and Michael Badgley (10-of-11), the Colts had the second-highest field goal percentage (94.4) in the NFL.
Prior to joining the Colts, Mason had spent his coaching career in college football. He began as a student assistant at Denison in 2007-08 and eventually bounced around a few schools as a graduate assistant before becoming Cincinnati’s director of recruiting and special teams assistant in 2017.
In 2018, he was promoted to special teams coordinator and remained in that role with Cincinnati until 2021, when he left and took the special teams coordinator job at Notre Dame.
After one season with Notre Dame in 2022, he joined the Colts. The Colts will hope to have Mason back on the sideline sooner rather than later.
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