INDIANAPOLIS — The Indianapolis Colts today officially began on-field preparations for Sunday's Week 8 contest against the Detroit Lions. What were some of the top takeaways on the day?
Injury report
Here is today's injury report, the first of the week for the Colts:
Leonard, Pittman Jr., Turay are back
Last week's bye week came at a great time for several injured Colts players who needed just a few more days to get themselves back onto the practice field.
Accordingly, the team saw the return of several players for Wednesday's practice, including tackle Chaz Green, linebacker Darius Leonard, wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. and defensive end Kemoko Turay.
— Green missed the Colts Week 6 win over the Cincinnati Bengals with a back injury. A key backup at both guard and tackle, Green was a full participant in Wednesday's practice.
— Leonard suffered a groin injury just before halftime of the Colts' Week 4 victory over the Chicago Bears; he then missed Indy's next two contests against the Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals. The two-time All-Pro was a limited participant in Wednesday's practice.
— Pittman Jr. suffered a lower leg injury Week 3 against the New York Jets; although he eventually returned to the game, later that night he would undergo surgery to relieve the pressure caused by compartment syndrome. Pittman Jr. was subsequently placed on injured reserve, meaning he had to sit out a minimum of three games; he missed Indy's games against the Bears, Browns and Bengals. The Colts now have 21 days to decide whether to return the rookie wide receiver to the active roster or revert him to IR for the remainder of the season.
— Turay made his 2020 practice debut on Wednesday after starting training camp, and the regular season, on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list, requiring him to sit out at least the first six games of the year. The third-year Rutgers product suffered a gruesome ankle injury Week 5 last season against the Kansas City Chiefs, and has been working his way back since. Head coach Frank Reich has estimated that Turay will need a couple weeks of practice under him before he can be made available for game action.
Trade deadline looming
This upcoming Tuesday, of course, is Election Day, so make sure you get out and vote if you haven't done so already (and, if you need help, check out the Colts' #ForTheFuture page by clicking here).
But Tuesday is also meaningful in another way across the NFL landscape: it's the 2020 trade deadline.
By 4 p.m. ET Tuesday, will the Colts have made any moves? They haven't been all that active on the trade market under general manager Chris Ballard, especially at the deadline, but then again, Indy at 4-2 is a contender and you never know what could happen if the terms are ideal for both sides.
Ballard and Reich talk constantly throughout the day about the Colts' roster, and Reich said today that trade possibilities do get brought up from time to time.
"Obviously, you guys know what a great relationship Chris and I have," Reich said. "We literally talk about the roster in every facet, form and shape every day as it relates to trades or anything else. As you said, 99.9 percent of the time it leads to nothing, but it's always healthy discussion. It's always healthy discussion."
Metcalf rundown got 'em talking
It was one of the greatest hustle plays in NFL history.
The Arizona Cardinals were taking on the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday Night Football three nights ago, when Cardinals safety Budda Baker stepped in front of a Russell Wilson pass and had nothing but 98 yards of green grass ahead of him.
Or so he thought.
Ninety yards later, Baker was somehow brought down by Seahawks wide receiver DK Metcalf, who was almost 11 yards away from the safety when the pass was intercepted, but sprinted as hard as he could to track the ball down, reaching speeds of 21.27 mph, according to NFL NextGen Stats.
The Cardinals ended up winning in an overtime thriller, 37-34, but the play by Metcalf had folks talking across the entire NFL landscape, including in Indianapolis.
Reich was at home enjoying his bye week when he caught the play on TV.
"Yeah, I love seeing those plays," Reich said. "I know my family as fans were – that was the talk and chatter through texts and conversations."
Reich said the Metcalf rundown will likely show up on the team's "situations" tape they play at their meeting the night before Sunday's game against the Lions.
"I've seen a couple other really great chase-down plays, but that was certainly up there in the same ZIP code as some of the really great ones," Reich said.
