Indianapolis Colts safety Malik Hooker was wearing a boot on his left ankle in the locker room on Tuesday, according to Zak Keefer of The Indianapolis Star. While Hooker said the boot was simply precautionary, his status ahead of Saturday's Divisional Round game against the Kansas City Chiefs is something to monitor.
Hooker suffered his injury in this past weekend's 21-7 victory over the Houston Texans. The 22-year-old left the game and was considered questionable to return, but he returned to the field.
Hooker is in his second season with the Colts after they selected him with the 15th pick of the 2017 NFL Draft out of Ohio State. The safety only appeared in seven games as a rookie, but he saw 14 games of regular-season action this year and recorded 44 combined tackles, two interceptions and a fumble recovery. He had two combined tackles in the win over Houston.
Indy's defense shut down Deshaun Watson and the Texas on Saturday, allowing just the seven points and 322 total yards of offense. This upcoming Saturday brings an even tougher test against Patrick Mahomes and the league-best Chiefs offense. Kansas City's low scoring total of the season is 26 points, so the Colts are going to have to be at the top of their game to pull off the road upset.
It looks like Malik Hooker will be available for this playoff matchup, but he could be a liability if he's hampered in any way. The Chiefs are excellent at taking advantage of mismatches, so they'll be monitoring Hooker's status and effectiveness closely.
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