The Colts announced Thursday safety Julian Blackmon suffered a torn Achilles' in Wednesday's practice and will miss the remainder of the 2021 season.
Blackmon started all six of the Colts' games this season and totaled 34 tackles with one pass break-up, one forced fumble and two tackles for a loss. The 23-year-old was selected in the third round (85th overall) of the 2020 NFL Draft.
"He's done a really good job," defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus said on Tuesday. "Alan Williams and him have worked very hard. They work in conjunction with Khari (Willis) and the rest of the safeties. I think like anything, I think (in your) second year you're always a little bit better because everything slows down for him a little bit in terms of the game. He understands where he fits into the defense and he's been in multiple situations so he's had the ability to file those away and learn from those.
"He's a constant, constant guy that wants to constantly learn to get better. You can see that in his maturation in terms of that. He's another guy that's very smart. He's got great vision of the long range of the field. He can cover a lot of space. He can cover a lot of space and the thing that we're so impressed with him this year, is his physicality. He's been really bringing the physical game to it. His tackling style, his approach, his angles have really improved in the run and the pass game. So that's where we see his biggest growth. He's communicating a lot better back there this year, in terms of taking charge and taking command – him with Khari."
As a rookie, Blackmon played in 15 games (14 starts) and had 42 tackles, two interceptions, four pass break-ups, one forced fumble and three tackles for a loss.
