INDIANAPOLIS — Temperatures were in the low-30s Wednesday afternoon in Indianapolis.
Better bundle up, however, because the Indianapolis Colts weren't about to be heading indoors as they begin preparations for Sunday's divisional clash with the Tennessee Titans.
The Colts on Wednesday were outdoors for their first practice of the week, and saw a couple players return to the practice field — while a few others were held out.
Those who were back included tackle/guard Denzelle Good, cornerback Nate Hairston and defensive end Kemoko Turay. Among those not seen in the early portion of practice included three safeties — Clayton Geathers (knee), Malik Hooker (hip) and Mike Mitchell (calf) — as well as running back Marlon Mack (not injury related), linebacker Anthony Walker (neck), cornerback Chris Milton (not injury related) and tight ends Ryan Hewitt (ankle) and Erik Swoope (knee).
» Good did not practice last Friday with an illness, and was initially labeled as questionable for the Week 10 game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. The team the next day announced Good was being downgraded to out for the game, however.
» Hairston was a limited participant all of last week as he dealt with an ankle injury. Like Good, Hairston was also initially labeled as questionable for the Jaguars game on Friday, but downgraded to out the following day. Pierre Desir got the start at cornerback in his place.
» Turay, meanwhile, did not participate in the final two days of practice last week due to a neck injury. He, too, was initially labeled as questionable, and downgraded to doubtful on Saturday, and then was on the inactives list prior to last Sunday's game. Fellow rookie Tyquan Lewis, making his NFL debut, got the start in Turay's place at defensive end against Jacksonville.
Walker and Milton are new additions to the injury report this week, as Hewitt, Hooker, Geathers, Mack, Mitchell and Swoope all were on the list last week in one capacity or another. Hewitt, Mitchell and Swoope all were inactive against the Jaguars.
Haeg back
Also back on the field on Wednesday was tackle/guard Joe Haeg, who was participating in his first practice since being placed on injured reserve with an ankle injury following the Colts' Week 3 matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles.
The team used its second and final return-from-IR designation on Haeg — the first one was used on defensive tackle/end Tyquan Lewis, who was moved to the active roster last Friday — and now has a 21-day window to decide whether or not to bring him back to the active roster or revert him to IR for the rest of the season.
Colts head coach Frank Reich on Wednesday said the hope was for Haeg to be available after the team's Week 12 game against the Miami Dolphins.
Notable quotable
"It never crossed my mind. I knew how hard he worked, I knew the team of people around him how hard (they were) working, I saw every workout that he had in the offseason. You know, I just never questioned physically that he (would be back). Now, there's a process to gain confidence in everything, but physically I felt very confident." — Colts head coach Frank Reich, on if he ever thought at any point during the offseason Andrew Luck wouldn't be able to get back to being a high-level quarterback coming back from his season-ending shoulder surgery last year.
Injury report
Here's Wednesday's full practice report:
» DNP: S Clayton Geathers (knee); TE Ryan Hewitt (ankle); S Malik Hooker (hip); RB Marlon Mark (not injury related); CB Chris Milton (not injury related); S Mike Mitchell (calf); TE Erik Swoope (knee); LB Anthony Walker (neck)
» Limited: CB Nate Hairston (ankle)
» Full: T/G Denzelle Good (not injury related); G/C Quenton Nelson (back); DE Kemoko Turay (neck)
