| Indianapolis Star
NFL Week 12 overreactions: This will not be Mahomes and Chiefs last trip to Tampa this season
SportsPulse: USA TODAY Sports’ Mackenzie Salmon goes around the league and breaks down all the biggest story lines from Week 12 in the NFL.
INDIANAPOLIS — Colts punter Rigoberto Sanchez revealed in an Instagram post on Monday morning that he’s been diagnosed with a cancerous tumor and will undergo surgery on Tuesday.
Sanchez wrote that the doctors believe they’ve caught the tumor before it spread to his entire body.
“It’s always God’s plan, and it will always be bigger than my plans,” Sanchez wrote on Instagram. “I know that it will not be an easy bump in the road, but I know I have my amazing wife supporting me, along with family, coaches and friends reaching out.”
Sanchez remained resolute in his statement.
“Unfortunately, there are things you can’t control in life, and this is one of them,” Sanchez said. “No plans or preparation would have gotten me ready for this kind of adversity, but like I told my wife, we can’t flinch. Keep striving to come back stronger than ever.”
Facing the health issue going into Sunday’s loss to the Titans, Sanchez ceded kickoff duties to Rodrigo Blankenship, but the veteran punter still punted five times — averaging 50.4 yards per kick — and handled the Colts’ onside kick attempt at the end of the game.
Undergoing surgery to remove a tumor presumably ends Sanchez’s season.
“Makes me sick that I’ll have to miss some time playing besides my brothers, but I know they will hold it down,” Sanchez wrote. “I will be watching. Love y’all.”
