We'll kick off a short week ahead of Thursday Night Football at Lucas Oil Stadium with a few injury updates and roster moves:
Colts head coach Frank Reich revealed Monday wide receiver T.Y. Hilton (concussion) will not play Thursday against the New York Jets, while defensive end Tyquan Lewis suffered a season-ending patella injury in Week 8's 34-31 loss to the Tennessee Titans.
"It's really unfortunate, (Lewis) was really playing well yesterday and obviously a good, young player," Reich said. "He'll bounce back and have a good rehab."
Lewis was placed on injured reserve Monday.
Safety Khari Willis is being evaluated for a calf/knee injury that forced him out of Sunday's game, and Reich said it was too early to know what his status will be for Week 9. The Colts on Monday signed safety Josh Jones and running back Deon Jackson to the 53-man roster from the practice squad and additionally waived quarterback Brett Hundley.
Upon further review
Reich was honest and candid in criticizing some of his playcalling decisions immediately after Sunday's game, specifically calling a pass on third down before going for a fourth-and-three in the first quarter, and then in the fourth quarter calling for the tight end screen that led to the Titans' go-ahead pick six.
With a night to reflect on those plays, Reich continued to put the responsibility for those plays on him.
"Looking back on it, I still feel the same about the screen call. It was a bad call," Reich said. "I wish I could justify it in some way, some shape or form but I can't. It was a bad call. So, that's on me. As I looked at the rest of the play calling, as I told you, that one fourth-and-three, the second one that I would probably like back was that third-down call, not the fourth-down call. I didn't love that call, but I probably should have ran it on that third down.
"Other than that, as far as – (the media) asked me after the game about the run-pass ratio. I was probably fine with all that. I was probably fine with how the calls came out towards the end of the game with the flow of the game and the way it was and the things that there were available and thought there were opportunities."
And quarterback Carson Wentz – who digested the film of Sunday's game last night – said he wished he had thrown a check down to Jonathan Taylor instead of targeting Michael Pittman Jr. in overtime, which led to Kevin Byard's interception that set up the Titans' game-winning field goal.
"He would have probably picked up 15-20 yards," Wentz said. "So yeah, that one I'm definitely kicking myself over."
Wentz went into further detail of his process on that interception on Monday, too.
"You're calling a down-the-field play. You always have underneath checkdowns, but calling the play to be aggressive down the field," Wentz said. "I thought Pitt was able to get over the linebacker so I threw it to a spot. I didn't really have my eyes on the safety like I should've and Byard made a great play. Hats off to him. But the underneath coverage got a lot of depth so in hindsight I definitely wish I would've checked it down to JT there. But one I've got to learn from, the timing of it just really stinks."
On to Thursday night
The Colts talked on Sunday after how quickly they needed to flush the loss to the Titans, and on Monday they stuck to that approach.
"A little down right now honestly," tight end Jack Doyle said of the mood on 56th Street. "I think we will shake it out quickly. Once we're all back together, you start to feel a little bit better. I don't know why that is or what it is about that because you're all going through the same thing, feeling the same thing. We have a team meeting at noon and we have a full day getting ready for the Thursday game. That's the great thing about football, we have another opportunity to go get a win, show who we are. So, that's what we'll do."
Monday's practice report
The Colts conducted a walk-through on Monday. Monday's practice report is only an estimation of a player's participation if there was a practice.
Thursday Night Football is back!
Don't miss your chance to be a part of Thursday Night Football live at Lucas Oil Stadium for the first time since 2017! Limited tickets are still available for this pivotal Colts vs. Jets showdown.
Plus, be sure to wear blue all week and take advantage of our Blue Out festivities as the national spotlight shines on Indy.
