Indianapolis Colts tight end Trey Burton is expected to miss the start of the regular season after suffering a calf injury during the team’s final training camp scrimmage, head coach Frank Reich told the media Thursday.
Burton was having a really strong camp emerging as an explosive receiving option for new quarterback Philip Rivers in the move tight end role, which has some solid value in Reich’s offense.
>>>READ: Final 53-man roster projection before cuts<<<
After waiting to see the severity of the calf injury earlier in the week, the 28-year-old is now expected to miss at least the first game of the season and potentially even more.
Reich expects Trey Burton to “miss the first couple weeks” of the regular season. Still hard to really get a gauge on the calf injury. #Colts
— George Bremer (@gmbremer) September 3, 2020
With Burton expected to miss the start of the campaign, the Colts are likely going to take four tight ends onto the active roster when they make their initial cuts by Saturday at 4:00 p.m. ET. As starter Jack Doyle also works back from a neck injury, the Colts are pretty thin at tight end.
It isn’t clear if the Colts believe this injury is serious enough to have Burton start the season on either the PUP list or the injured reserve list, both of which would force him to miss the majority of the first half of the season.
But with Burton expected to miss potentially the first few weeks, the Colts will have to add one more tight end to the roster possibly in the form of Xavier Grimble or undrafted rookie Farrod Green.