Colts WR T.Y. Hilton almost retired after neck surgery, spoke with Andrew Luck

Indianapolis Colts veteran wide receiver T.Y. Hilton remained with the organization this past March via a one-year contract with $8 million guaranteed but then landed on the injured reserve list ahead of the start of the regular season after he required neck surgery. 

It turns out Hilton was closer to retiring this fall than some realized. 

According to Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk, Hilton returned to practice this week for the first time since having the procedure, and he admitted to reporters Thursday that he spoke with former teammate Andrew Luck about his future. 

Luck shockingly retired before the 2019 season after he endured multiple physical setbacks during his relatively brief career. 

"The first two days when I got home, I almost hung it up," Hilton explained. "I can’t even lie. I didn’t pretty much tell nobody but the people close to me. I was close to hanging it up. I talked to Andrew, that was probably the wrong thing to do. . . . He wanted me to be good with it, get back healthy, don’t rush it, take your time."

The Colts sit at 1-4 coming off this past Monday's heartbreaking overtime loss to the Baltimore Ravens and could certainly use Hilton's services moving forward. Hilton's status for this Sunday's matchup against the 1-4 Houston Texans hasn't yet been confirmed.