Jonathan Taylor, DeForest Buckner Return To Practice
INDIANAPOLIS – Are the Colts getting (arguably) their two best players back for one of the biggest games of the season?
Jonathan Taylor (ankle) and DeForest Buckner (ankle) are returning to practice this week, with real hope they can play Sunday in Houston.
What did we learn at the Colts first practice of the Week 8?
It’s possible the Colts get their 2 best players back this week. Jonathan Taylor has missed the last 3 games due to that right ankle sprain and last practiced on September 27th. While Taylor plays a position that teams can rotate pretty frequently, how much practice time he needs to feel fully confident about making his return to game action remains a mystery. Is one week of work enough for some return after missing nearly a month? When asked on Wednesday if the Colts will get Taylor/Buckner back for game action in Week 8, Shane Steichen said this: “We will see how the week goes, but feel really good about it.”
We are not used to seeing DeForest Buckner miss any game time, let alone 5 weeks, but that’s been the case after that ugly looking ankle injury form Week 2. Buckner’s last practice was September 14th so, like Taylor, questions on if 1 week of practice will be enough to play Sunday. Yes, the Colts can also rotate quite a bit at defensive tackle, similarly to running back. By allowing Buckner to return to practice, the Colts have opened up a 21-day window for him,
to practice and he’s also eligible to return to game action at any point, too. By the end of the 21-day window, the Colts have to bring Buckner onto the 53-man roster or leave him on IR for the rest of the season, which is a very unlikely result. So a corresponding roster move will be needed at some point. If practice goes well, Buckner in a limited/third-down role would seem to make sense for C.J. Stroud.
