Quick takeaways from Colts Jonathan Taylor’s press conference before returning to practice

Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor spoke to the media for the first time since starting a contentious contract dispute with the franchise all offseason—and after being recently activated for the 21-day practice window on PUP.

Instead of getting into the ‘weeds of’ his contract situation and ‘the roots of’ his prior unhappiness, Taylor took the high road and instead, primarily focused the dialogue on the health of his surgically repaired ankle, his Colts teammates, and winning football games:

As mentioned by the esteemed media members above, Taylor never directly addressed whether he and his representation have rescinded his prior offseason trade demand request or whether any progress or assurances have been made regarding his contract negotiations—or maybe even the lack thereof at this point.

Taylor did indicate that his ankle is 100% healthy—as has been previously reported, with the expectation that he could’ve returned to the field a few weeks ago, if actually eligible off PUP (which is a required at least four weeks of inactivity).

However, it’s still uncertain that if he is active on Sunday against the rival Tennessee Titans, just how many snaps he’ll get freshly coming off of PUP—and with only a limited week’s practice time (*with Wednesday as a re-scheduled walk-thru) and no earlier training camp and/or preseason reps to draw from:

My expectation would be that Taylor would initially be on a ‘pitch count’ of sorts, splitting offensive reps with incumbent starter Zack Moss this weekend—and gradually assuming an increased workhorse’s workload over the next few weeks (eventually getting to about 85% of the offense’s total snaps—with Moss as a change-of-pace backup and for occasional breathers).

Taylor did mention that the ‘media’s job is to speculate . . . and that the only thing that matters is between these walls,’ indicating that some of the things that may have been portrayed publicly, were inaccurate to what was actually transpiring in reality. However, no specifics of such speculation were mentioned by Taylor—and to be fair, Taylor and his camp had the opportunity within the media to clarify such inaccuracies during that same span, but elected not to all together.

At any rate, it appears that Taylor will be returning to the Colts backfield sooner rather than later—even if his contract situation and prior trade request remain currently unresolved.

While Moss has provided consistent, rock solid running in Taylor’s absence during the interim period, Taylor should provide more explosive runs and ‘home run hitting ability’ as he’s a genuine threat to take it to the house anytime he touches the football. He features a unique combination of speed and power and is a rare bellcow in today’s game, as he should eventually assume workhorse duties once his conditioning gets back to top form again.