There might not be a player in NFL history more content with being on injured reserve than Matt Slauson.

The Colts guard, a Jet from 2010-12, is out for the season after breaking two vertebrae early in the second half in Thursday’s game against the Patriots. He didn’t realize it and kept playing, risking paralysis, according to the Indianapolis Star.

“I had no idea how close I was to changing my family’s life,” Slauson told the newspaper.

Indianapolis was down 24-3 at the half, yet still Slauson stayed in there in a 38-24 Patriots victory.

Slauson had started each of the Colts’ first five games, giving him 113 starts in nine NFL seasons, after signing as a free agent in March. The Colts asked the 32-year-old to remain around the facility and attend practices to provide leadership.

Indy replaced the veteran by signing center-guard Evan Boehm off of the Los Angeles Rams practice squad.

Slauson was a sixth-round draft pick of the Jets in the 2009 draft and has played with the San Diego and Los Angeles Chargers, Chicago Bears and the Jets, whom Indy visits Sunday.