Colts OL Xavier Nixon Returns to Practice

The Colts offensive line has been playing better than anyone expected entering the season, and there's a chance that they could be getting an additional boost in a few weeks.  Today, the team announced that Xavier Nixon was returning to practice.

Nixon is currently on injured reserve with the designation to return, and this is the first week that he's actually eligible to come back to practice with the team.  The Colts will have three weeks to evaluate him on the practice field and then determine whether to activate him to the 53-man roster or place him on season-ending injured reserve.  He is not eligible to play in a game until the Colts' week nine game, a Monday night contest in New York against the Giants on November 3 (the week before the Colts' bye).

Nixon appeared in four games with the Colts last year, including one start at left guard.  He looked impressive in the time that he did play and in a season with plenty of bad interior offensive line play, Nixon stood out for being solid.  He's a valuable depth lineman who's return could help improve a line that has played well this year but that still has depth concerns.  Joe Reitz and Lance Louis are two good backup guards who have both seen time this year, and throwing Nixon into that mix would only help things.

Of course, we don't know Nixon's status other than that he's returning to practice, which is a good sign at least.  From there, we'll just have to wait and see what the Colts decide to do with him.