Colts CB Darius Butler Ruled Out vs. Bengals, Arthur Jones Questionable

Based on the practice reports this week, this news shouldn't come as a surprise but it's still significant: Colts head coach Chuck Pagano mentioned moments ago at his press conference that nickel cornerback Darius Butler will be out for Sunday's game against the Cincinnati Bengals.  Pagano also said that defensive lineman Arthur Jones is questionable for the game.

For Butler, this will be the second straight game he has missed with an ankle injury.  He didn't play in last Thursday night's game, which made sense considering the short turnaround week.  He had time to rest, however, and yet still didn't practice this week and won't play on Sunday.  With him out, Josh Gordy will step in as the nickel corner, which is the same thing that happened last week.  Butler has been one of the best nickel cornerbacks in the league this year and has been playing very well.  In last Thursday's game against the Texans, Gordy struggled.  I wouldn't be surprised to see the Colts try to get Loucheiz Purifoy some snaps this week, but it's clear that Gordy is the team's nickel corner going into this week - a spot that, while not technically a starting spot, is pretty close.

The other significant bit of injury news for the Colts is something else that we could have guessed - that Arthur Jones is questionable.  Jones hasn't played since week two when he suffered a high ankle sprain, but this week he got back on the practice field each day in limited action.  Defensive coordinator Greg Manusksy said Thursday that even if Jones does play, it wouldn't be a lot just due to the nature of getting back into the flow of things.  Regardless of whether Jones plays this Sunday, however, the good news is that he's getting closer.

Everybody else, including safety Mike Adams (ankle),  right tackle Gosder Cherilus (knee), left guard Jack Mewhort (ankle), and right guard Hugh Thornton (back) are all probable.  So even though Butler is out and Jones is questionable, this week's injury report is actually a pretty good one overall for the Colts.  That said, the absence of Butler especially will be a key one, and the Colts will certainly miss him for the second straight week.