Colts Injury Report: 6 Starters Miss Practice

The Indianapolis Colts today released their Wednesday injury report for Week 4 of the NFL season ahead of their Sunday game.

Safety Julian Blackmon missed practice today with an ankle injury. Blackmon injured his ankle on Sunday against the Chiefs and was unable to return to the game. He was replaced by rookie Rodney Thomas. Head coach Frank Reich described Blackmon’s injury as day to day, so he will be one to keep an eye on this week.

Defensive tackle DeForest Buckner missed practice today with an elbow injury. Buckner has been on the injury report quite frequently this season, but an elbow injury isn’t one he’s been on the report with previously. Buckner showed his dominant abilities on Sunday and was one of the reasons the Colts defense was able to overcome the Chiefs offense so well.

Cornerback Stephon Gilmore missed practice today with a hamstring injury. Gilmore is the clear Colts CB1 and was brought in this off-season to boost an otherwise inconsistent cornerback level of play previously. Gilmore is a huge part of what the Colts are able to do coverage wise on the back end, so he will be one to monitor closely this week.

Center Ryan Kelly missed practice today with a knee injury. Kelly has been playing well below his usual high performances the team and fans have seen so frequently from him. He has been part of an offensive line unit that has been uncharacteristically poor this year. Hopefully, he can shake the knee injury and return to his normal high level of play.

Defensive End Yannick Ngakoue missed practice today with a back injury. Ngakoue has been dealing with a back injury for most of the year and missed practices last week due to it. He was able to play on Sunday and had his best week as a Colt to date, hopefully he can do the same for Sunday’s game against the Titans.

Running back Jonathan Taylor also missed practice today with a toe injury. Taylor has been the entire Colts offense so far this year as the passing attack has been disastrous. If the Colts are without Taylor at any point, then the Colts offensive outlook appears very bleak at best. One good point is that Taylor has never missed a game as a Colt due to injury, so don’t expect him to start now.

Offensive tackle Bernhard Raimann was limited at practice today with an ankle injury. He was seen by the media practicing today with a brace on his ankle. Raimann missed the Colts' last game due to the same ankle injury. With how poor the Colts offensive line is playing, they may need Raimann at full health as soon as possible, in case the team decides to make any changes up front.

Linebacker Shaquille Leonard was a full participant at practice today. Leonard has managed two straight weeks of full practices but is still yet to make his season debut. Leonard will likely practice fully all week again and a decision will be made on Friday on whether he’s going to play Sunday or miss a fourth game in a row.