Veteran Jeff Foster (back) did not travel to Toronto so he could meet with Dan Dyrek, the team’s physical therapist consultant. Foster, who has a history of back problems, re-injured it during the Dec. 20 preseason game at Chicago. He hopes to return to the lineup next week when the Pacers are on a four-game trip.

Big man Jeff Pendergraph also remains on the shelf so we may see the Pacers debut of Lou Amundson.

Over the Christmas weekend, I wasn’t exactly scanning the airwaves for up-to-the-minute updates on the health of Jeff Foster. So it was a surprise to me that he was in a suit last night instead of a Pacers uniform. He sat out after having “tweaked” his back in the team’s final preseason game against Chicago, according to Pacers beat writer Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star.

And unfortunately for the team’s depth, Jeff will continue to look like the epitome of Bankers Life over there on the sidelines for the next few games.

The Indiana Pacers began the season with just 13 players on the roster and for the next week they’re going to be really thin in the frontcourt.

Jeff Foster [back] and Jeff Pendergraph [sprained knee] are currently sidelined, which means backups Tyler Hansbrough and Louis Amundson will get a lot of minutes behind starters David West and Roy Hibbert.

Foster is expected to be ready for game action in about a week, while Pendergraph should start practicing next week, reports The Indianapolis Star.

This means a shorter big-man rotation for Coach Frank Vogel, who will be hoping to get worthwhile spot minutes out of the non-injured four guys he has on his roster he doesn’t consider to be “starters.”

“The way I look at our depth now is that it’s like we’ve almost got seven starters and we still have quality bench players as well,” Vogel said. “I look at George Hill and Tyler Hansbrough as deserving starter minutes.”

Lou Amundson didn’t see the court in the team’s season-opening rout of the Pistons. Instead, the only big men to play were actual starters Roy Hibbert and David West as well as Tyler Hansbrough, who will presumably be the first big off the bench all season. But we can probably expect Lou to get some extended run in the near-term since, starting tomorrow, the Pacers play 7 games in 11 days.

Hopefully, at least Foster and perhaps even offseason acquisition Jeff Pendergraph join the rotation at some point during that stretch.

The #Pacers and @TheRealJP31 have arrived in Chicago. (via@brookeolzendam)

Indiana plays its second, and last, preseason game tomorrow at 8:00 pm against the Bulls.

UPDATE: I missed this earlier but Pendergraph has also tweaked his knee. He will thus sit out this game in Chicago, but based on the optimism of coach Frank Vogel and the hat he is wearing, hopefully for Indy that means it isn’t that serious.

Jeff Pendergraph missed all of 2010-11 after tearing his right anterior cruciate ligament in the preseason.

Pendergraph has a mild sprain with the same knee and the club thinks he’ll be ready for the start of the season.

“We’re hoping to have him ready for opening night [Dec. 26 against Detroit],” Pacers head coach Frank Vogel tells The Indianapolis Star. “This is not due to his previous injury.”

More from the source reporting by Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star.

When Pendergraph “tweaked” his knee, he knew right away it wasn’t an ACL injury because of how he felt when it happened.

“It was just a little twist,” he said. “It was a freak accident. It was bugging me enough that it wasn’t anything to keep fighting through, and after talking to the training staff, they were concerned that I should sit out for a little bit … I can’t wait to get going again. But right now we’re being cautious, making sure I get enough rest and it heals up right. Then we can attack it head-on with the treatment and then go from there so I can get back on the court doing what I do.”

Connect the Kevin Pritchard dots. @RTsam_amick Jeff Pendergraph is expected to sign a two-year, guaranteed deal in Indiana,

In that sense, this seems like a good, low-risk move — presuming the money is right. Few people have ever questioned Kevin Pritchard’s ability to evaluate talent. If he was in Bird’s ear urging this acquisition, it’s probably at least worth a shot. Giving a guaranteed second year is sort of unfortunate since he is unproven to begin with and coming off a major injury, but if he does give any production whatsoever and — again — the money is fiscally responsible then it could turn out to be a savvy move. And Larry Bird needs to fill out the roster and wasn’t planning to use all his cap space anyway, so this shouldn’t impair the team from going after any of the actual “prizes” in this free agent crop if that’s what he is looking to do.

Worst case: he takes Solomon Jones’ minutes.

Best case: he becomes a solid component of the big man rotation.