Defensive tackle Rod Coleman joked at the beginning of the season that he was so unique, all of his injuries defy common medical logic (see ruptured quadricep).
Coleman will need his humor more than ever now as he and fellow defensive tackle Trey Lewis were placed on the Falcons injured reserve list Tuesday morning.
Coleman left Sunday's game against the Bucs with an arm injury but returned for limited action. Lewis injured his knee early in the game and did not return.
Let me tell you, neither looked pretty.
Head Coach Bobby Petrino didn't have details of the injury after the game, but Lewis' left the field in obvious pain.
He did have more information Tuesday afternoon.
"Trey has a knee (injury) and he’ll require surgery," Petrino said. "Rod gave us a
great effort -- you can’t say enough about Rod. Here’s a guy that came out,
practiced hard, gave great effort in every game that he played in. He’s just at
a point now where he needs to take the time off to make sure he doesn’t injure
anything else."
Coleman totaled eight tackles, including a two-sack performance and a forced fumble against the Carolina Panthers in Week 10.
Lewis made his first career start against Houston in Week 4 and
posted 23 tackles, one interception and one pass defensed in nine games.
The news hits hard on a unit already battling injuries. Montavious Stanley and Jonathan Babineaux remain as the only defensive tackles with extended experience. R
Recently signed Tim Anderson has been inactive for the past two games.
To help fill the void the team signed defensive tackle Jesse Mahelona -- a sixth round pick of the Tennessee Titans in 2006 -- and promoted defensive end Kevin Huntley from the practice squad to the active roster.
Petrino said Stanley and Babineaux will start Thursday night against the Colts with Anderson in a backup role. Stanley has played both nose tackle and "under" tackle in his time with the Falcons.
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