MKRob Sports

Adam Vinatieri’s availability for training camp is in question after he underwent surgery on his right hip earlier this week.The Indianapolis Colts are confident, however, that their veteran place-kicker will be ready for the regular season.

Vinatieri, 36, opted for surgery to relieve discomfort in his right hip that had bothered him for more than a year. The procedure was performed in Vail, Colo., by Dr. Marc Phillipon , who recently operated on the hip of New York Yankees superstar Alex Rodriquez.

The prognosis is for Vinatieri to be ready for the Colts’ Sept. 13 opener against Jacksonville.

“I don’t have any reservations based on what Dr. Phillipon told me,” team president Bill Polian said Friday afternoon. “He was right on A-Rod and that was a much more difficult situation. (There’s) no reason he won’t be right now.”

Along with alleviating the pain in Vinatieri’s hip, the procedure was precautionary.

“Do it now,” Polian said, “and not have it crop up at Thanksgiving.”

It marks the second time since Vinatieri signed a five-year, $12 million contract in 2006 that he’s dealt with a significant medical situation. He missed the first three games of the ’06 season — the only games he’s missed during his 13-year career — after breaking a bone in his left foot during the preseason.

In three seasons with the Colts, Vinatieri has converted 68-of-82 field goal attempts in the regular season (82.9 percent), and missed just one of 17 attempts in the postseason. He’s delivered four game-winning field
goals, including two last season.

While Vinatieri mends — and especially if he’s likely to miss a portion of training camp — the Colts might sign another kicker. The only player on the roster with place-kicking experience is seventh-round draft pick Pat McAfee.

“That’s a question for later,” Polian said.

“We know the procedure has been a success. Adam’s in good spirits. Everything’s fine along those lines. The next step is to decide how we want to monitor his workload (in camp).”

Vinatieri’s situation took center stage Friday as coach Jim Caldwell put the Colts through the first of three mandatory minicamp sessions.

However, several players were held out of practice while recovering from injuries sustained last season or from surgery.

One was running back Joseph Addai, who revealed he had arthroscopic surgery on one of his knees.

“Got it cleaned out,” he said. “It’s feeling good right now.”

“He’s working through a bit of a rehab situation, but he’s in fine physical condition,” Caldwell said of Addai. “He’s been lifting, doing all the things that have been required of him.”