Halfway through the first round matchup between the Indianapolis Colts and the Houston Texans, Colts safety Malik Hooker left the game with a lower-body injury.
Malik Hooker has a foot injury and considered questionable to return. The good news is the Colts have been playing three safeties all year. Look for Geathers, Mitchell and Odum to rotate for now.
— Stephen Holder (@HolderStephen) January 5, 2019
Thankfully for the Colts, he did return to the game shortly after the injury update.
The Colts have plenty of safety depth this season. In year's prior their secondary was a large concern, but they've done a good job shoring that part of the defense up lately.
Hooker is a second-year free safety out of Ohio State. The Colts took him 15th overall in the 2017 NFL draft. He only played in seven games his rookie season, but did come out of the year with three interceptions and 21 total tackles. This season, he was the full-time free safety for the Colts. He's had two interceptions and a total of 44 tackles this season for the team.
The Colts this season barely squeaked into the playoffs as a wild-card team. They were 1p-6 on the season and finished 2nd in the AFC West Division. They averaged around 27.1 points per game, which ranked 5th overall in the entire league. Their defense was also fairly decent. They allowed only 21.5 points per game, which ranked 10th overall in the NFL.
They went on a four-game winning streak to finish out the year strong, earning themselves a playoff spot. Andrew Luck had one of the best seasons of his young career, throwing for 4,593 yards and 39 touchdowns overall.
The winner of the Texans and Colts matchup will face off against the Kansas City Chiefs. The Chiefs had a first-round bye.
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