The Indianapolis Colts may have dodged not just one but two bullets ahead of their Week 5 matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
After their two star offensive players, running back Jonathan Taylor and quarterback Anthony Richardson, suffered injuries on Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers, they may not be out long-term moving forward.
NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero shared that Taylor just has a mild ankle sprain, and Richardson has no significant injury to his oblique and abdominal strains.
So the #Colts offense appears to have dodged two injury bullets Sunday: RB Jonathan Taylor’s high ankle sprain is mild, per @RapSheet, and no major injury for Richardson either. Both will be evaluated throughout the week. https://t.co/HrzpfgMmK4
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) September 30, 2024
Colts head coach Shane Steichen believes his running back will not need to be placed on short-term injured reserve.
“We’ll see how the week progresses,” Steichen said. “We’ll see how it goes.”
Taylor explained what was the deal with his ankle after the victory.
“You get retaped, and you try everything you can do, but we’ve got two other great (backs),” Taylor said. “You guys know what Trey and Goody did to Pittsburgh (last year), so there’s never a doubt about that.”
This isn’t the first time Taylor has suffered through their ankle injuries. The Colts running back suffered a significant high ankle sprain during the 2022 season, missed three of the next five games, and returned for five games before reinjuring the ankle, leading to surgery that ended up lingering into the first four games of the 2023 season amid a contract dispute.
Early signs indicated that the injury was not serious, and that remains the case on Monday.
As for Richardson, he exited Sunday’s game due to a hip injury. Backup Joe Flacco replaced Richardson and led the Colts to victory, 27-24.
Richardson left the game by completing three of four passes for 71 yards. It’s been a struggle for the second-year quarterback thus far. In the season, he has only thrown for 583 yards, three touchdowns, and six interceptions, and he has a QBR of 50.2 and is ranked 19th in the league.
The 22-year-old has completed less than 50 percent of his passes thus far, with a 49.3 completion percentage, and has completed 36 of 73 passes through three and a half games.
Richardson has struggled not only on the field but also to stay on the field. He has missed significant portions of three of the eight career games he has started.
Nonetheless, if he professes well this week, we will likely see him under center when the Colts take on the Jaguars on the road. If not, he has a more than capable backup that could lead the Colts to victory.
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