National Football League

Foot injury sidelines Colts TE Allen

Published Aug. 9, 2013 1:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

Tight end Dwayne Allen missed a second straight day of practice with an injured foot that has prompted the Colts to get a second opinion.

Coach Chuck Pagano said he did not have details about the injury, only that he does not expect Allen to play in Sunday afternoon's preseason opener against Buffalo.

"Dwayne Allen went for a second opinion. Have not gotten the results back yet," Pagano said following Indianapolis' second workout Friday. "He's due back in town sometime this evening. Just waiting on that. When we have an answer, we'll give it to you."

Allen came in for treatment Wednesday, an off-day for Indianapolis, complaining of foot pain. He hasn't been on the field since then.

Injuries have been a dominant theme throughout the first two weeks of training camp.

Earlier this week, the questions were about Darrius Heyward-Bey, the receiver who sprained his left knee Sunday.

The former first-round draft pick missed Monday's practices and walked around gingerly with a brace covering the left knee. He returned to practice Tuesday night for group workouts, and did some team work Thursday afternoon. On Friday, Heyward-Bey ramped up his activity in the team portion of Friday's afternoon workout.

Pagano has not ruled out Heyward-Bey for Sunday's game, but it is likely he won't play.

Losing Heyward-Bey for any significant time would be a big blow for a team that has two starting receivers back -- Reggie Wayne and T.Y. Hilton -- but will be missing second-year receiver LaVon Brazill for the first four games after violating the league's substance-abuse policy for the second time.

But if Allen misses much time, it could make things even tougher for Indianapolis. New offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton has built the playbook around a more power-oriented running game and is likely to feature double-tight end formations.

Without Allen, the Colts have just three healthy tight ends on the roster -- Coby Fleener, a second-round pick in 2012; Justice Cunningham, this year's Mr. Irrelevant; and Dominique Jones, who caught one pass in four games with the Colts last season.

The Colts took Allen in the third round of the 2012 draft, and he wound up with 45 receptions for 521 yards -- both league-highs among rookie tight ends in 2012. Allen also broke Ken Dilger's franchise rookie record for receptions by a tight end, and he proved to be a capable blocker, too.

Pagano declined to say how concerned the team was.

"It's not my area. I'm not a doctor," Pagano said. "I wish I could give you a definitive answer right now."

Also sitting out Friday was linebacker Bjoern Werner, Indy's top draft pick. Werner has a sore knee, though it didn't appear to be too serious.

"We just decided to hold him out today and let him rest, but we expect him to play (Sunday)," Pagano said. "The other guys are on the mend and it looks like we'll get a few guys back, hopefully."

Pagano said rookie offensive lineman Hugh Thornton (right ankle) and Khaled Holmes (right ankle) would not play against the Bills. Thornton was injured in a rookie mini-camp at the team facility just before the team made the roughly 25-mile trek to Anderson University. Holmes was injured on the third day of workouts and has not practiced since.

But Pagano said he was hopeful some other injured players, including two-time Pro Bowl safety LaRon Landry (knee) would be able to play Sunday afternoon.

"We're holding out hope," Pagano said. "We haven't ruled any of those other guys out."