Colts running back Salvon Ahmed had to be carted off the field and taken to the hospital after he was the victim of an illegal hip-drop tackle in practice.

Ahmed screamed in pain after the tackle by teammate Trey Washington in the end zone on Sunday. It has been reported that the running back’s right ankle was stuck in an ‘awkward position’.

The 26-year-old was put on a stretcher, while his teammates gathered around him, took a knee, and said a prayer. 

Ahmed was then taken to the hospital for X-rays amid fears over a serious injury to his lower right leg. 

Hip-drop tackles were banned last season due to the number of injuries they can  cause. Washington, an undrafted free agent, was said to be ‘down in the dumps’ after hurting his teammate.

‘You never want to see that happen,’ Colts head coach Shane Steichen said. ‘I know we don’t encourage hip-drop tackles. 

Salvon Ahmed had to be taken to the hospital after he was the victim of an hip-drop tackle

The Colts running back screamed in pain after the tackle by teammate Trey Washington

‘I know Trey’s down in the dumps, and I don’t think he’s trying to do that. We’re just trying to create an edge… those (backups) are going to have to tackle come preseason.’

Steichen added: ‘I think training camp is where you want to create the edge and the toughness and the idenтιтy of your football team, so you have live periods.’

Ahmed is a five-year veteran of the NFL who played 38 games for the Miami Dolphins between 2020 and 2023.

Following his injury on Sunday, Indianapolis briefly stopped training camp to huddle before finishing its final practice period of the day. 

‘There’s guys out here that need those reps to compete and get better,’ linebacker Zaire Franklin, a long-time friend of Ahmed, said per ESPN. 

‘We’re trying to be the best team that we can be so we can win. We’ve got to keep pushing ourselves.’

Steichen added: ‘There’s a lot of thoughts going on in my head during that situation. I talked to some of the leaders on the team. We wanted to get that last 2-minute situation in. Felt that we needed that. They were on board with that.’