Colts Notebook: Anthony Richardson, Jonathan Taylor Injury News

Source: Lauren Leigh Bacho / Getty

INDIANAPOLIS – The Colts have some big names to watch injury wise heading into their first road AFC South game of the season.

On Monday afternoon, Shane Steichen had his weekly game recap Zoom press conference.

What did Steichen have to say as the Colts (2-2) transition into a Week 5 game in Jacksonville (0-4)?

The Colts are still awaiting MRI results on the injured hip to Anthony Richardson. On Monday, Steichen called the Richardson injury a ‘hip’ when asked directly if the quarterback was dealing with a ‘hip pointer.’ Richardson played 13-of-66 snaps in Week 4, leaving the game late in the first quarter due to a hip injury. Any Richardson missed time would obviously be unfortunate given the desperate need for him to get as many reps as possible. Not playing in Week 5 would also mean Richardson misses yet another road opportunity, as he’s only played 5 quarters away from home in his NFL career. And it could come with the Colts playing their first AFC South road game of the year. More on Richardson’s status will come Wednesday, as the Colts return to work for their first practice of the week. FWIW, Joe Flacco actually started against the Jaguars last season. Flacco went 26-of-45 for 311 yards, 3 touchdowns and 1 interception in a 31-27 victory on December 10^th.

On the Richardson front, Steichen fielded multiple other Richardson related questions during Monday’s Zoom. On if Richardson is injury prone: “I don’t know. There’s always those things out there, injury prone, guys get hurt. I mean, it’s football. Guys go out there and play and injuries happen sometimes. You don’t want them to happen. It obviously happened. It wasn’t a huge, huge injury. We will see how the week progresses and go from there.” On if the Colts are running Richardson too much: “There is a balance there in running the quarterback. But it does an add element to our offense that he can make big plays with his feet. We don’t want to lose that. So we have to go into games obviously being smart and when the opportunity is there, he obviously knows he can run. Even if it’s a drop back, and he scrambles, he’s going to take off and run, too. We will keep working those things.”. On if Richardson needs to slide more: “There’s a time and a place for that. We talked about that. We will keep those looking at those things, keep deep-diving on those things. And we will go from there.”

Jonathan Taylor (right ankle) is dealing with an ankle sprain on the same ankle he battled throughout the 2022 season. Shane Steichen said on Monday that, as of now, the team is not considering injured reserve (would miss at least 4 games) for Taylor’s injury. In 2022, Taylor had several starts and stops to his play time while fighting a high ankle sprain, playing the first 4 games of 2022, then siting out 2, playing the next 2, then sitting out 1, then playing 5 before going on injured reserve in missing the final 3 games of the year. Taylor had ankle surgery following the 2022 season. Remember, the Colts do have running back Evan Hull on the practice squad, if Taylor can’t go in Week 5.

While Matt Gay doesn’t fall in the ‘physical’ issue category, he provided some thoughts on his recent long-distance struggles during a Monday press conference. First, Shane Steichen reiterated on Monday that Gay is the Colts kicker as they head into Week 5. Gay was adamant that his misses, which have all been to the left, are not related to August hernia surgery, or a quad ailment that developed a few weeks ago. “I’ve been very good from 50-plus in my career,” Gay said on Monday. “I’ve shown that I can do it. I know that I can do it. It’s just one of those things in trusting yourself and being confident in your target line.” Gay says he’s had issues with that start line, having too much draw (a right to left ball flight) on his current ball, and not starting it far enough right (to play for that right-to-left draw). Having that right-to-left ball flight is not something Gay says is normal for him. Gay arrived to Indy in 2023 as a 74 percent kicker from longer than 50 yards (17-of-23) in his career. He’s been 53 percent in two seasons with the Colts (8-of-15). The NFL is seeing kickers connect on 75 percent of field goals from longer than 50 yards this season, 70 percent if you go back to the last two seasons. Undrafted rookie Spencer Shrader remains on the Colts practice squad, for those curious.

Tyquan Lewis left the game late with an elbow injury. The Colts are awaiting more information on Lewis’ injury. Remember, the Colts played in Week 4 without defensive end Kwity Paye, who is dealing with a quad injury.