Colts Notebook: Daniel Jones Downplays Fibula Injury
- Colts hold 2-game lead over Texans in AFC South, with 2 more games left.
- Colts have been better at home vs away this season, scoring 33.6 vs 27.8 PPG.
- Texans' pass rushers Hunter and Anderson Jr. have been disruptive, combining for 21.5 sacks.
INDIANAPOLIS – Playing their first home game in a month, the Colts have a huge, huge divisional game against the Houston Texans waiting.
The Colts (8-3) hold just a 2-game lead over the Texans (6-5) with 2 more games left against them in the final 6 weeks of the season.
Here are some takeaways from the Colts holding a walk-through on Wednesday:
-As the Colts hold a walk-through on Wednesday, instead of a normal practice, the estimated injury report will list Daniel Jones (fibula) as a limited participant. Both Shane Steichen and Jones downplayed the severity of the injury, with the head coach saying the starting quarterback is “good to go” for Sunday against the Texans. Jones suffered the injury during last Thursday’s practice, and seemed to be favoring it at times during the loss to the Chiefs. Even though, it’s clear the Colts didn’t think too much of the injury over the weekend. Steichen doesn’t believe the Colts will have to “manage” the injury in a substantial way the rest of the season. If the Colts really had concern around the fibula injury for Jones, wouldn’t they have called up QB-Brett Rypien from the practice squad for 3rd QB/injury insurance?
-As announced on Monday, do-it-all Ashton Dulin (hamstring) is going to miss some time. The Colts placed him on injured reserve Tuesday afternoon, meaning he will miss at least the next 4 games: Texans, at Jaguars, at Seahawks, 49ers. That’s a notable loss for the Colts. Dulin plays so many different roles, and that’s going to take multiple guys to fill that. Whether it’s making a great play in kick/punt coverage or making a catch on offense, Dulin seemingly pops up every Sunday creating a couple first downs, even if those plays don’t end up on a highlight reel. Replacing Dulin on the 53-man roster is veteran special teamer George Odum. He will likely occupy the Dulin coverage responsibilities, with return duties still centered around Ambeer Abdullah and Anthony Gould? Odum, 32, joined the 2025 Colts last week.
-It is good on good Sunday afternoon when the Colts have the ball. You have the No. 1 scoring offense and No. 2 total yardage offense in the Colts facing the No. 2 scoring defense and No. 1 total yardage defense in the Texans. Back at home, the Colts have scored at least 29 points in all 6 of their home games this season. The Texans have held their opponents to 29 points or less in all 11 of their games.
-One thing to note as the Colts return home for the first time in a month, they’ve definitely been a better team at home vs. away. That includes points per game (33.6 vs. 27.8), yards par carry (5.8 vs. 4.3) and yards per pass attempt (8.5 vs. 7.5). In an odd scheduling quirk, between October 27th and December 21st, this Sunday is the lone Colts home game inside of Lucas Oil Stadium.
-Does Shane Steichen have a set number of touches for Jonathan Taylor going into each game? “Yes and no. You go out and see how it plays out. You always want to give him as much touches as you can and see how the game plays out and see the flow of the game. And that will dictate it. In the Colts one possession games this season, these are the following carry numbers Taylor has had in the 4th quarter/OT: Falcons (12, win), Broncos (10, win), Cardinals (9, win), Rams (7, loss), Chiefs (3, loss), Steelers (0, loss)
-Even though Anthony Richardson Sr. (orbital fracture) has been eligible to come of injured reserve the last two weeks, he’s still not healthy enough to return to practice. Shane Steichen said on Wednesday that Richardson, who was again spotted in the locker room on Wednesday, will not be practicing this week.
-For the last few weeks, we’ve stressed the vital importance to the Colts facing the Texans and Jaguars the next two weeks. Simply, it’s massive in deciding the shape of the AFC South for the final quarter of the season. If you look at AFC South odds, two wins the next weeks by the Colts would increase their chance of winning the division to north of 90%. Two losses, and odds would drop to around 15 percent. A split would keep the Colts right around a coin clip, as they close the season with the Jags and Texans in Weeks 17 and 18. The Texans (6-5) are 2 games back of the Colts (8-3), with the Jaguars 7-4) one game back. Remember, after head-to-head, the next tiebreaker within a division is divisional record, another reason why these games matter so much. Frankly, you’d rather beat the Texans this Sunday than have beaten the Chiefs last week. More here on the Colts current playoff picture.
-Nico Collins has torched the Colts in recent meetings. In Collins last 3 games against the Colts, he has had the following receiving yardage games: 117, 195 and 146 yards. He’s had incredible 22 catches on 26 targets in those games. Of course, this is why you make a trade for Sauce Gardner and give Charvarius Ward the contract you did. In those 3 games by Collins, the Colts had the following outside cornerback duos staring: JuJu Brents/Jaylon Jones, JuJu Brents/Jaylon Jones, Dallis Flowers/Darrell Baker Jr.
-Menacing. Disruptive. Game wrecking. That’s how you describe the Houston defensive end duo of Danielle Hunter and Will Anderson Jr. They have 21.5 combined sacks in 11 games. They rank 3rd and 4th in the NFL in sacks. And in the last 3 weeks they’ve been extra pressuring. Hunter has 7.0 sacks and Anderson Jr. has 4.5 sacks in these 3 straight Texans wins, all without C.J. Stroud in the lineup.
-Like in recent years, Shane Steichen has shifted to a Wednesday walk-through, instead of practice, here in Week 13. This comes with the Colts now 11 games into their 17-game journey. The Colts will have a walk-through on Wednesday, an earlier practice on Thursday (Thanksgiving) and then a little later practice on Friday.
