For a few hours on Wednesday, Colts fans had a legitimate panic attack. Tyler Warren, the guy Indy took 14th overall a year ago and immediately handed the offense's future to, went down on a route during 11-on-11 work and didn't get back up clean. He was pulled to the sideline, out of the drill, and stuck talking to a trainer instead of running routes.
The initial word from HC Shane Steichen was about as vague as it gets: a groin injury suffered during that day's practice. Adam Schefter relayed the same thing minutes later, and for a team that just spent a first-round pick on this guy, groin is a word that makes you nervous no matter how many qualifiers get attached to it.
Colts HC Shane Steichen told reporters that TE Tyler Warren is dealing with a groin injury that he suffered during today’s practice.
That's why Jordan Schultz's follow-up a few hours later mattered so much. Schultz reported it's actually an abductor strain, and per his source, Warren "is going to be fine" and isn't expected to miss much time, if any. The expectation is he's back on the field next week.
Context matters here. Warren isn't just another camp body — he's Indy's first first-round tight end since Dallas Clark back in 2003, taken 14th overall out of Penn State after a monster final college season (104 catches, 1,233 yards, 8 touchdowns) that netted him the John Mackey Award. The Colts built a chunk of their offensive identity around him as a rookie, so any scare involving his lower body is going to send the fanbase into a spiral before the facts catch up.
This is about as good an outcome as anyone could've hoped for given how the initial visual looked. Abductor strains still require caution — soft tissue injuries have a habit of lingering if teams push them too fast — but "back next week" with training camp still grinding is a best-case scenario. Expect the Colts to be conservative with him over the next several days regardless, since there's zero reason to rush a strain in mid-August when the games that count are still weeks away.