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Stephen HolderESPN
One day after Indianapolis Colts quarterback Nick Foles was injured in Sunday’s loss, Colts interim coach Jeff Saturday strongly criticized New York Giants defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux’s snow angel sack celebration, calling it “tasteless” and “trash.”
Foles was injured in the second quarter of the Giants’ 38-10 win at MetLife Stadium when Thibodeaux delivered a blindside hit that caused Foles to land on the ball with the defensive end landing on top of him. As Foles lay on the turf writhing in pain, Thibodeaux launched into a lengthy celebration, doing fake snow angels on the ground directly adjacent to the injured Foles as concerned Colts teammates encircled their quarterback.
“Tasteless from the celebration afterwards,” Saturday said Monday afternoon. “Just trash. Not a fan of it at all.”
Thibodeaux said after the game he didn’t realize Foles was injured at the time, saying, “After a sack, you celebrate … I think when I did realize he was hurt, that’s when we started getting up. When you are doing the celebration, you are not looking to see who is doing what. I hope he gets well and I hope he is all right.”
Saturday also took exception to another aspect of the play: the fact that none of his players intervened during Thibodeaux’s prolonged display.
“Disappointed from the O-line perspective and teammates in general,” said Saturday, a former Colts Pro Bowl center. “We protect our own. Y’all know me. I’ve been here a long time. I’m just going to tread lightly. Obviously, I didn’t like it at all. That’s where I’ll leave it.”
Saturday described Foles as “really sore on that whole side of his body. Obviously, he took a massive shot there and landed on the ball. So, a lot of pain and he’ll be down this week.”
With Foles out, Sam Ehlinger will start at quarterback in the Colts’ season finale against the Houston Texans, Saturday said. Matt Ryan, who was inactive Sunday, will be his backup.