Resembling the form he displayed en route to the 2021 rushing title, Jonathan Taylor has excelled to open his fifth season. But reminders of the running back’s recent injury form have reemerged.
Taylor, who famously had not missed any time over his first two seasons and throughout his college career, appears set to be sidelined once again. The high-priced Colts running back sustained a high ankle sprain, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport. Although Taylor looks likely to be shelved for a bit, Rapoport adds this is not viewed as a particularly troublesome sprain. That said, high ankle sprains are regularly difficult to surmount. And Taylor has a history of ankle trouble being a big-picture issue.
Ankle trouble slowed Taylor for much of the 2022 season, bringing his run of durability to a halt. A sprain sustained in Week 4 of the 2022 season affected the former All-Pro for most of that ’22 slate, with a high ankle sprain diagnosis that December eventually leading to a late-season shutdown. Taylor missed six games in 2022, including the final three, and underwent surgery.
That injury eventually became cover for Taylor to stage a de facto hold-in, landing on the Colts’ reserve/PUP list despite Jim Irsay declaring him good to go before training camp. The Colts ended up paying their starting running back — on a three-year, $42MM deal that undoubtedly affected this year’s RB market — before he debuted in Week 5 of the 2023 season. But Taylor did not match his pre-injury form too often for a Colts team that again lost its RB1 due to a late-season thumb injury.
This year, Taylor is averaging 4.8 yards per carry (349 in total), and his 66 rushing yards over expected (per Next Gen Stats) ranks seventh in the NFL. The Wisconsin alum has not eclipsed 1,000 rushing yards since that dominant 2021 showing (1,811), but was well on his way to a third 1,000-yard season before this injury.
As of now, it does not appear Taylor is an IR candidate. Saquon Barkley suffered a high ankle sprain in Week 2 last year and returned by Week 6. Considering Taylor’s history with ankle trouble, the Colts could well be cautious. The team has Trey Sermon in place as Taylor’s top backup, with Tyler Goodson also on Indianapolis’ 53-man roster. Taylor has taken 72 handoffs to Sermon’s nine, however, marking a split that does not resemble the Taylor-Zack Moss workload from 2023. Second-year back Evan Hull resides on Indy’s practice squad.