Colts Star Sauce Gardner Ruled Out of Game After Suffering Calf Injury: 'Felt Like I Got Shot'

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NEED TO KNOW

• Sauce Gardner suffered a calf injury during the Colts-Texans game on Sunday, Nov. 30

• The Colts cornerback said he "felt like I got shot" in a post-game presser

• The 25-year-old athlete was in his third game with the Colts since he was traded from the New York Jets on Nov. 4

Sauce Gardner's new start with the Colts may be cut short.

The Indianapolis Colts cornerback, 25, suffered a calf injury early in the first quarter of their game against the Houston Texans on Sunday, Nov. 30.

Gardner, who was traded from the Jets earlier this month, went down on the second play of the Texans' first offensive possession of the game.

After falling, the star player — who was playing just his third game with his new team — stayed on the ground before coming up and hobbling away with the help of Colts staff.

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Gardner said after the game that he didn't initially fear the worst and believed it to be a "strain," never thinking that it could be a potential season-ending injury.

"Felt like I got shot in the calf or something," he told reporters, adding, "But it was higher. I wasn't thinking the worst."

Gardner was eventually ruled out of the game and was later seen on the sideline wearing a boot. The Colts have yet to provide specifics on the cornerback's injury.

"I don't have any details," head coach Shane Steichen said in a post game press conference. "All I know is it's a calf right now."

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Other Colts players weighed in on the injury.

"It was significant, to be honest with you," linebacker Zaire Franklin shared. "Sauce is an incredible player... You lose a guy like that, you gotta pretty much shift the whole game plan and a lot of the calls kind of go out the window without certain securities that you had when Sauce was out there."

"So it definitely affected it," he continued. "But I felt like the guys that came in played hard, J. Jones and 'Khi. They came in and made some plays to help the team be in a position to win."

Gardner is set to undergo an MRI on his calf on Monday to determine his injury.

Gardner was selected fourth overall by the Jets in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft and played three-and-a-half seasons with the team before his trade to the Colts.

Read the original article on People