Seahawks left tackle Rees Odhiambo was taken to the hospital following Seattle's win 46-18 win over the Colts on Sunday night.
According to ESPN.com, doctors believe that Odhiambo suffered a cardiac contusion or a bruised heart. If doctors find that Odhiambo's heart is bleeding, then he could be out for a month or more. On the other hand, if Odhiambo only has a bruise, he could be back on the field in a week, according to ESPN.
Following Seattle's win over the Colts, Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said that Odhiambo was having some trouble breathing in the locker room, so the team had him admitted to a local hospital as a precaution.
"He got hit in the chest, and he just had a little trouble breathing, and so they just had to do all the precautionary work to make sure he was OK," Carroll said, via ESPN.com.
Odhiambo suffered his injury after taking a hit in the third quarter following a Russell Wilson interception. On the play, Malik Hooker picked off Wilson and as Odhiambo was going to make the tackle, he took a hard elbow to the chest from Colts linebacker Jabaal Sheard.
After taking the hit, Odhiambo remained on the ground for a second before finally walking to the sideline. Despite the injury Odhimanbo managed to finished the game.
During a Monday morning interview with 710-AM ESPN in Seattle, Carroll offered a few more details.
"He had a response, he got hit in the chest on the interception return and it wasn't a violent hit but the guy must have caught him just right with the shoulder and it knocked the wind out of him," Carroll said, via the Seattle Times. "That's what happened on the field and he had trouble really breathing through the game but he made it -- it was OK. But in the locker room it just exacerbated so we took all the precautions and made sure we looked after him."
As of Monday afternoon, Odhiambo was still hospitalized. If Odhiambo has to miss any time, that would be a devastating blow to a Seahawks offensive line that has already been struggling this year. Odhiambo actually went into the season as a backup offensive linemen, but he was named the starting left tackle after the team's normal starter, George Fant, tore his ACL during the preseason.
If Odhiambo's out, the Seahawks would be down to their third-string left tackle, and that would likely be Matt Tobin.
During his radio interview, Carroll also confirmed that starting running back Chris Carson would "be out" for an extended period of time. Carson was carted off the field on Sunday after suffering what Carroll described as a "significant" ankle injury. According to NFL.com, Carson is believed to have suffered a broken ankle.