The Indianapolis Colts announced on Friday that the team has re-signed running back Darius Jackson to the team’s practice squad and waived placekicker Matt Gay in a corresponding roster move on their taxi squad.
It’s been an interesting road for the 26 year old Jackson, who was waived from the Colts practice squad this past weekend—only to visit on Thursday, before quickly re-signing.
The 6’0”, 220 pound running back was originally a 2016 6th round pick of the Dallas Cowboys, but has also spent time with the Cleveland Browns, Green Bay Packers, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers—along with the Colts organization.
The former Eastern Michigan standout has 6 career rushing attempts for 16 total yards during 4 career NFL games.
Both Jonathan Taylor (ankle) and Jordan Wilkins (groin) have been battling injuries, but each running back was a full participant during Thursday’s practice which bodes well for their chances of playing Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens respectively.
Jackson and Darius Anderson are the two running backs on the Colts’ current 16-man practice squad, as they serve as additional positional depth.
Meanwhile, Matt Gay had been signed to the Colts practice squad earlier in the season as an insurance policy to undrafted rookie kicker Rodrigo Blankenship. He was even designated among the taxi squad’s protected players just a few weeks ago.
Whether the Colts have become increasingly confident in Blankenship (who’s performed well), carrying an extra kicker (even on the practice squad) was a luxury given other roster needs, or Gay potentially struggled in team practices remains unclear at this time. There’s a chance he could always resurface on the team’s practice squad just a few days from now.