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Indianapolis Colts News & Rumors

Minor NFL Transactions: 12/22/23

December 22nd, 2023 at 7:45pm CST by Adam La Rose

Here are Friday’s minor moves around the league:

Cincinnati Bengals

Indianapolis Colts

Los Angeles Chargers

Pittsburgh Steelers

Washington Commanders

Duggan was waived earlier this week when the Chargers elected to add Will Grier to their active roster. Duggan went unclaimed, to little surprise, leaving him free to re-join the Bolts in short order. The seventh-round rookie has yet to see regular season game time, and that will likely remain the case with Easton Stick and now Grier ahead of him on the depth chart. He will remain in the organization for the time being, however.

Colts Expect Jonathan Taylor To Return In Week 16

December 22nd, 2023 at 2:59pm CST by Adam La Rose

Jonathan Taylor has been sidelined since Week 12 due to a torn UCL in his thumb, but he could be on the verge of returning to the lineup. Head coach Shane Steichen announced the team’s top running back is expected to play in Week 16.

Indianapolis’ upcoming game against the Falcons was recently reported as a realistic spot for Taylor to return to action, so Steichen’s update comes as little surprise. Still, his addition to the lineup will be a welcomed development as the Colts continue their playoff push. Taylor (who has no injury designation after practicing in full this week) has been limited to seven games in 2023 while dealing with multiple injuries.

That includes the ankle ailment which lasted through Taylor’s turbulent contract talks. In the end, he landed a three-year, $42MM extension, raising expectations for his short- and long-term production. The 24-year-old has yet to reach 100 rushing yards in a game this season, however, and his 4.1 yards per carry average is the lowest of his career. Improving in that regard could help the 8-6 Colts stay in contention for a wild-card berth or even the top spot in the AFC South as the season winds down.

Taylor could handle a heavy workload if he is able to play on Sunday, particularly if Zack Moss is unavailable. The latter suffered a shoulder injury in Week 15, and he was forced to leave the win against the Steelers after just four carries. Moss has had a strong season to date, and the Colts enjoyed signficant success on the ground with Trey Sermon and Tyler Goodson last week. Still, Taylor would provide another high-end option in the backfield to close out the season.

Steichen also revealed on Sunday that wideout Michael Pittman Jr. has cleared concussion protocol. That puts him on track to play against Atlanta on Sunday, a game in which Indianapolis could be at or close to full strength in the skill-position department.

Updated 2024 NFL Draft Order

December 20th, 2023 at 1:41pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Panthers’ Week 15 win over the Falcons brought the Patriots and Cardinals, who each lost, one game closer to the No. 1 overall pick. New England’s weaker strength of schedule provides keeps Arizona in the No. 3 spot, while Washington — weeks away from a likely full-scale reboot — has lost five straight to move into position for its first top-five pick since 2020.

Early reports have the Bears more likely to draft Justin Fields‘ replacement than trading a top pick once again, but the Patriots and Cardinals are still in the running for what could well be the Caleb Williams draft slot. Much less drama would emerge if New England claimed the top pick, as the Patriots would be expected to draft the top QB prize. Arizona landing atop the draft for the second time in six years could produce a derby, with Kyler Murray‘s contract difficult (but not impossible) to move for new GM Monti Ossenfort. QB-needy teams may well be hoping the Cardinals land one of the top two spots, however, providing a potential gateway to a trade-up for Williams or Drake Maye.

The Raiders’ 63-21 demolition of the Chargers slid them down six spots compared to their position last week. The Packers also climbed eight spots from their slot going into Week 15. Green Bay has not held a top-11 draft choice since it drafted B.J. Raji in the 2009 first round; that came on the heels of Aaron Rodgers‘ first season at the helm. Jordan Love‘s QB1 debut season could still produce a playoff berth, however, and the rest of the NFC and AFC wild-card races remain tightly bunched.

Here is how the 2024 draft order looks with three regular-season games to play:

  1. Chicago Bears (via Panthers)
  2. New England Patriots: 3-11
  3. Arizona Cardinals: 3-11
  4. Washington Commanders: 4-10
  5. Chicago Bears: 5-9
  6. New York Giants: 5-9
  7. New York Jets: 5-9
  8. Los Angeles Chargers: 5-9
  9. Tennessee Titans: 5-9
  10. Atlanta Falcons: 6-8
  11. Green Bay Packers: 6-8
  12. Las Vegas Raiders: 6-8
  13. New Orleans Saints: 7-7
  14. Denver Broncos: 7-7
  15. Seattle Seahawks: 7-7
  16. Pittsburgh Steelers: 7-7
  17. Arizona Cardinals (via Texans)
  18. Buffalo Bills: 8-6
  19. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 7-7
  20. Minnesota Vikings: 7-7
  21. Los Angeles Rams: 7-7
  22. Indianapolis Colts: 8-6
  23. Jacksonville Jaguars: 8-6
  24. Cincinnati Bengals: 8-6
  25. Kansas City Chiefs: 9-5
  26. Houston Texans (via Browns)
  27. Detroit Lions: 10-4
  28. Philadelphia Eagles: 10-4
  29. Miami Dolphins: 10-4
  30. Dallas Cowboys: 10-4
  31. Baltimore Ravens: 11-3
  32. San Francisco 49ers: 11-3

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 12/19/23

December 19th, 2023 at 7:22pm CST by Ben Levine

Today’s practice squad moves:

Arizona Cardinals

  • Released: WR Daniel Arias

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Cleveland Browns

Denver Broncos

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

  • Signed: QB E.J. Perry

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

New England Patriots

New York Jets

Pittsburgh Steelers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Washington Commanders

Colts Suspend WR Isaiah McKenzie, CB Tony Brown

December 19th, 2023 at 6:51pm CST by Ben Levine

The Colts have suspended a pair of players for the rest of the 2023 campaign. According to ESPN’s Stephen Holder, receiver Isaiah McKenzie and cornerback Tony Brown have earned three-game suspensions for “conduct detrimental to the team.”

Holder admits that it’s uncertain what the players did to warrant the suspensions, but a source disclosed that the “nature of the violations rose to a level where severe punishment” was necessary. Both players were inactive this past weekend.

McKenzie joined the Colts this past offseason after having spent the previous five seasons in Buffalo. After finishing 2022 with career-highs in receptions (42) and receiving yards (423), McKenzie hasn’t seen nearly as big of an offensive role in Indy. In 13 games (tw0 starts), McKenzie has hauled in 11 catches for 82 yards. He’s also served as the team’s primary punt returner.

After bouncing around the NFL to begin his career, Brown joined the Colts prior to the 2022 campaign. He got into 16 games last season, compiling seven tackles and one sack. He had 10 tackles and an interception in 12 games this season, with the majority of his playing time coming on special teams.

The Colts weren’t done making roster moves today, with the team announcing that they’ve signed Tyler Goodson to the 53-man roster. The running back was promoted for each of the last three games, collecting 88 yards on 16 touches. With Jonathan Taylor and Zack Moss both questionable for Week 16, Goodson could see a significant role on Sunday.

AFC Injury Roundup: Colts, Ivey, Steelers, Wilson

December 17th, 2023 at 8:31pm CST by Ely Allen

The Colts battled through a number of injuries to beat the Steelers and remain in the playoff hunt for the AFC yesterday. Two key players in wide receiver Michael Pittman and running back Zack Moss were forced to exit the game early with injuries and failed to return.

Pittman was knocked out of the game with a concussion after receiving a hit from Steelers safety Damontae Kazee that resulted in Kazee’s ejection. Without his favorite target by far, quarterback Gardner Minshew was required to spread the ball out, completing passes to eight other players for the rest of the game. Though they were able to find success, Indianapolis will hope that Pittman can work his way through the concussion protocols quickly as Pittman is the target on nearly a third of the team’s pass attempts.

There was serious concern when Moss exited the game with an injury to the same arm that was broken around the start of the season. He was forced to leave the game due to issues with grip. With Jonathan Taylor missing most of the season thus far, Moss has taken the crown as the team’s leading rusher. Luckily, X-rays came back negative on Moss’ arm, so he should be able to return next week.

Here are a few other injury updates from around the AFC this week:

  • Joining fellow Bengals defender D.J. Reader, who was announced to be out for the season last night, seventh-round rookie cornerback DJ Ivey left yesterday’s game with a torn ACL that will end his season, as well, per Kelsey Conway of USA Today. The late-round pick out of Miami (FL) will see his rookie season cut short just as he was beginning to earn some more playing time in Cincinnati. He received a game ball last week for making a key pass breakup and recovering a fumble on punt coverage.
  • After Kazee was ejected, the Steelers were left with two backups in the game when Minkah Fitzpatrick left the game with a knee injury, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN. Fitzpatrick was able to walk off the field under his own power, but after a brief evaluation on the sideline, it was determined that he should not return for the second half of the game. Another starter, defensive tackle Cameron Heyward, will be a question mark to make a Week 16 appearance as he is reportedly in concussion protocol, per ESPN’s Brooke Pryor.
  • Lastly, from today’s games, the Jets were once again forced to turn to a new passer, this time Trevor Siemian, after starting quarterback Zach Wilson was forced to leave the game with a concussion in the second quarter, according to Rich Cimini of ESPN. If Wilson is unable to come back next week, it’ll likely be Siemian starting for New York against the Commanders.

Latest On Colts RB Jonathan Taylor

December 16th, 2023 at 12:09pm CST by Ben Levine

The Colts could welcome back their offensive star as soon as next week. According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, there’s optimism that running back Jonathan Taylor will be available for the Colts’ Christmas Eve matchup against the Falcons.

Taylor suffered a torn UCL in his thumb back in Week 12, and standard surgery would have kept the running back off the field for months. Instead, the player underwent an internal brace procedure, giving him a recovery timeline of three-to-five weeks.

Taylor wasn’t able to return to the field for the short end of that recovery timeline, as the running back was already ruled out for today’s game against the Steelers. The Colts decided against placing Taylor on injured reserve, a move that would have kept him off the active roster until at least Week 17.

The former All-Pro RB missed the start of the season thanks to an ankle injury/contract dispute, and it didn’t take long for Taylor to return to the field after inking a a three-year, $42MM deal in October. In his seven appearances, Taylor was averaging a career-low 59.1 rushing yards per game, but he was starting to heat up before his latest injury, collecting 160 rushing yards and three touchdowns in Week 10 and Week 12.

Zack Moss had a productive start to the season while filling in for Taylor, but the veteran backup has struggled during Taylor’s most recent absence. Over the past two weeks, Moss has collected 113 yards from scrimmage on 38 touches.

Minor NFL Transactions: 12/15/23

December 15th, 2023 at 7:54pm CST by Ely Allen

Here are today’s minor transactions, including some practice squad callups for the Saturday games:

Arizona Cardinals

Carolina Panthers

Denver Broncos

Indianapolis Colts

Minnesota Vikings

Pittsburgh Steelers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Washington Commanders

Getting Charles back should provide a bit of a boost for a Commanders’ offensive line that has allowed quarterback Sam Howell to be sacked an NFL-leading 58 times. That being said, they led the league in that category when Charles was healthy, as well. Still, as Charles attempts to come back from the calf injury that sidelined him for six games, he’ll have to overcome second-year guard Chris Paul, who has been starting in his place since the injury. While Charles had been struggling in a contract year, his replacement has ranked as the fourth-worst guard in the NFL, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required).

Wormley, Krull, and Senat all make their way up to the active roster for two reasons: first, injuries, and second, they’ve already appeared as standard gameday elevations off of the practice squad the maximum three times. In order to appear in any other games this year, all three needed to be signed to new contracts. If the players they are replacing come back from injury before the end of the season, any of them can be waived, re-signed to the practice squad, and elevated an additional three times.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 12/15/23

December 15th, 2023 at 6:51pm CST by Ely Allen

Friday’s practice squad adjustments:

Indianapolis Colts

Seattle Seahawks

Rivers finds his way to the practice squad injured reserve list, making room for Hambright to return after being released from the squad yesterday.

Rashed finally finds his way onto a roster in 2023 after failing to make the Buccaneers 53-man roster in August. He comes in as a replacement for outside linebacker Tyreke Smith, who was signed away from Seattle onto the Cardinals active roster today.

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