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The Indianapolis Colts continue to receive encouraging injury updates along the offensive line, as the team hopes to have several key starters back relatively soon to start the season.
Specifically, All-Pro center Ryan Kelly (elbow) looks like he’s less than a week away from returning to Colts training camp practices—having missed the past few weeks of action:
Pro Bowl center Ryan Kelly rehabbing that left elbow — expect him back in practice early next week. Snapping here to LT Eric Fisher. pic.twitter.com/X7HK8jqqBj
— Zak Keefer (@zkeefer) August 19, 2021
Meanwhile, fellow All-Pro Quenton Nelson could be on track to return by the team’s regular season opener. While that may be overly optimistic—when it’s all said and done, his actual being back at starting left guard for the Colts could be not too far thereafter.
Perhaps joining him around that similar span of time could be Colts’ starting left tackle Eric Fisher, who’s hoping to make his Indianapolis debut within the first few weeks of the season or so. For what it’s worth, Fisher is reportedly moving around very well right now:
Saw Eric Fisher *really* getting after it following today's Colts practice. He's not just running around. He's doing very specific offensive line movements. That's a lot different than blocking a defensive end, obviously, but for a guy who tore his Achilles 8 months ago, it's
— Stephen Holder (@HolderStephen) August 19, 2021
It’s important because the Colts’ patchwork offensive line has routinely been dominated in training camp so far by their defensive line counterparts—especially at left tackle, where Fisher’s temporary fill-ins have so far proven to be largely turnstiles.
Having both Kelly and Nelson back should help the play of whoever lines up at starting left tackle in the early weeks of the regular season, but there’s no doubt that having Fisher out there healthy will be a huge boost for the unit collectively—even if it’s a few weeks later.