INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Veteran Indianapolis Colts cornerback Charvarius Ward Sr. faced a frightening new experience this fall in his eighth season in the NFL.

Before the Colts' October 12 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals, Ward was working out on the field at Lucas Oil Stadium, doing drills as he always does prior to games, when a freak accident occurred.

Colts tight end Drew Ogletree was also working out on the field, inexplicably close to where Ward was going through his drills. The two players collided, sending Ward to the ground and knocking him unconscious.

"Yeah, I was knocked out," Ward told reporters on Friday after he'd finally been cleared to play again, six weeks later. "I've never been knocked out. Never. Never had a black eye. I had a black eye and everything, so that was crazy."

Ward was quickly diagnosed with a concussion, which was his second such incident in the previous five weeks after reporting symptoms to the team following their Week 1 win over the Miami Dolphins. The Colts then placed Ward on Injured Reserve due to having multiple injuries in such a short span of time.

"The first one was just felt like a little migraine," Ward described. "It was a hard hit. I got a headache. So, obviously, they labeled those as a concussion. The one I had the second time, I was throwing up, getting dizzy. I was getting dizzy for like a month. That wasn't normal. So that was like a real deal traumatic injury for me. A lot of emotions and everything like that. So it was pretty tough, but I'm feeling good now."

"I was kind of doubting if I was gonna play football again," Ward said as he reflected on his emotions in the weeks following the second concussion. "Because it was, like, that scary. It was that scary. Because I was thinking about my life outside of football, too. You know what I mean? So it was crazy."

“I mean, it took me a while to be ready to come back," Ward said. "That concussion, it really was messing with me. Mentally and physically, I was bruised up pretty bad for a long time. I didn’t expect that. But over the bye week, I started feeling ready again. So, I’m excited to come back.”

Slowly but surely — "day by day" as Ward described — he began to feel better, ultimately beginning to feel like himself again last week during the Colts' bye week.

“Last week during the bye week is when it kind of stopped, and I was able to, like, lock in and focus with my eyes and everything, and like my natural life outside of football – that’s when I feel like I was ready again,” Ward said.

When a player is questioning their career's future after a health crisis, it can send them to some dark places. However, Ward described his time in the Colts' facility, being around his teammates as something that eased the burden.

"Just coming in and being around the guys. They bring a lot of good energy. You know, you just love being in the building. These guys kind of boost my spirits up a little bit," Ward reflected. " I was feeling better and better every day. I was getting better every day.

"So like I said, bro, I was just trusting the process and believing in God a little bit, you know what I'm saying? Believing in God and knowing that I'd get back to my normal self one day. So that kind of, you know, my faith kind of helped me a little bit."

Now, after a full week of practice that culminated in Ward being removed from the NFL's concussion protocol so that he may be cleared to play again, Ward is ready to roll.

"I feel like me again. I feel like Mooney," Ward said, referring to the name he goes by personally. "I'm not really scared no more, like I was. Like I said, once I stopped getting dizzy and my eyes stopped being, like, kind of cross-eyed and everything like that, that's when I felt like I can play again. You know what I mean?

"So, hell yeah, I'm ready."

Jake Arthur has been covering the Indianapolis Colts for over a dozen years and is a member of the PFWA. He's one half of the Locked On Colts podcast and has worked for the Colts' official website, On SI, and more. You can follow him on X @JakeArthurNFL.

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