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Colts' Julian Blackmon out for Season After Being Diagnosed with Torn Achilles Injury

Erin Walsh

The Indianapolis Colts continue to lose players to injury. 

Safety Julian Blackmon tore his Achilles in practice and will miss the remainder of the 2021 campaign, the team announced Wednesday. He appeared in all six games for the 2-4 Colts this season.

While Blackmon is understandably upset about the injury, he appeared rather optimistic in a Twitter post soon after the news was announced. 

The Colts selected Blackmon in the third round of the 2020 NFL draft out of Utah. The 23-year-old also missed one game last season while recovering from a torn ACL suffered in the 2019 Pac-12 championship game. He finished the 2020 season with two interceptions, six passes defended, one forced fumble and 42 tackles in 15 games. 

Blackmon's 2021 season comes to an end with one pass defended, one forced fumble and 34 tackles in six games. He has been a crucial part of Indy's secondary since his arrival, and defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus acknowledged that on Tuesday. 

"He understands where he fits into the defense and he's been in multiple situations so he's had the ability to file those away and learn from those," Eberflus said, per the team's website

"He's a constant, constant guy that wants to constantly learn to get better. You can see that in his maturation in terms of that. He's another guy that's very smart. He's got great vision of the long range of the field. He can cover a lot of space. He can cover a lot of space and the thing that we're so impressed with him this year, is his physicality. He's been really bringing the physical game to it."

It's unclear who will replace Blackmon in the Colts' lineup. However, ESPN's Mike Wells mentioned Khari Willis, Andrew Sendejo and George Odum as potential options. 

The Colts have dealt with many injuries early on this season. Quarterback Carson Wentz missed most of training camp after undergoing foot surgery, and an ankle sprain hampered him in a 25-16 loss to the Tennessee Titans on Sept. 26. 

Left guard Quenton Nelson also missed most of training camp after foot surgery and has missed the team's last three games with an ankle sprain. In addition, right tackle Braden Smith hasn't played since Week 1 because of a foot injury. 

Wide receiver T.Y. Hilton returned from a neck injury in Week 6, but Parris Campbell landed on injured reserve recently with a foot injury. Other players who have missed time include defensive ends Kwity Paye and Kemoko Turay and cornerbacks T.J. Carrie, Rock Ya-Sin and Xavier Rhodes. 

The Colts are set to face the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, looking for their third win of the season.  

   

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