Colts FB Stanley Havili is Now Eligible to Return from the PUP List

In a bit of news that not many people have talked about, Colts fullback Stanley Havili is now eligible to return from the Reserve/Physically Unable to Perform list this week.  With that said, whether or not he actually will remains uncertain.

Chuck Pagano was not asked about the status of Havili so we don't actually know whether or not he is close to returning, but just knowing the rules and regulations of the PUP list, this week is the first week that he is eligible to.

Havili missed all of training camp this year, being placed on the PUP list to start camp and never practicing.  As such, he was placed on the reserve/PUP list for the regular season, meaning that he would be out for at least the first six games.  Once the team's sixth game is over, the player is then eligible to return to practice.  With the Colts' sixth game coming this past week, Havili is eligible to return now.  At this point, the Colts now have a six-week window during which Havili can return to practice (so, as you can tell, there still could be a little wait depending on Havili's status).  Once the player returns to practice, there is a three week window to decide whether to activate him to the 53-man roster, release him, or place him on season-ending injured reserve.

As mentioned before, because Chuck Pagano was not asked about it today we still don't really know the status of Stanley Havili, so we're kind of just left waiting to find out when Havili might return to practice.  Pagano didn't mention him today, but this week is the first time that he is eligible to return to practice since the start of the season.  From now, Havili still has a six week window to return to practice, and then whenever he does return he'll have three weeks before the Colts must decide what to do with him.

With Havili out, the Colts have been rolling mostly without a fullback, and it has worked out well.  Their offense is first in the league in points per game, yards per game, and passing offense, and most of that has been done without a fullback.  When the Colts have used a fullback, it has been tight ends Dwayne Allen or Jack Doyle filling in.  While at one point it seemed absolutely certain that Havili would return to the roster whenever healthy, now there is a question of whether the Colts still want to use a fullback often enough to warrant keeping one.  Havili can help out on special teams too, however, and he did well when asked to play fullback last year.  But regardless, the decision might be a little less certain than we initially thought.

We still don't have a ton of information yet on the health of Havili and when he might be ready to return, but based on the NFL's rules we know that he is now eligible to return to practice whenever he is ready.