HEADLINES

Shaquille Leonard

Colts’ Shaquille Leonard Won’t Play Week 1

September 9th, 2022 at 2:45pm CST by Adam La Rose

The health status of Shaquille Leonard has been one of the dominant storylines for the Colts this offseason. The All-Pro linebacker had the chance to play in the team’s season opener, but that will not happen. 

Indianapolis confirmed on Friday that Leonard is out for the Colts’ game against the Texans. Leonard continues to work his way back from offseason back surgery aimed at relieving the pain in his lower body he played through last year. Despite never being at 100%, the former second-rounder put up an All-Pro and Pro Bowl performance for the third time in his four-year career.

The procedure landed Leonard on the PUP list in July, but he and the team remained optimistic during the summer that he could be ready in time for the regular season. With his availability still clouded, the team faced the decision of activating him with the understanding that he would not be fully recovered or keeping him on the reserve list, which would have guaranteed a four-week absence.

Electing against the latter, Leonard did indeed return to practice last week. As head coach Frank Reich indicated at the time, though, it was not certain when exactly Leonard would be able to suit up. Today’s announcement does not breed any increased optimism that a Week 2 return is likelier than it was earlier in the week. The substantial impact Leonard has on the team, and the significant compensation he is still owed make a cautious approach the logical one for all involved.

In Leonard’s absence, the Colts will lean more heavily on starters Zaire Franklin and Bobby Okereke at the second level of their defense. Grant Stuard, JoJo Domann and E.J. Speed will also likely see increased usage.

Injury Updates: Giants, Leonard, Smith, Rivers, Sharpe

August 31st, 2022 at 9:10pm CST by Ely Allen

In a sequence of events that no one ever wants to see, the Giants had four players leave their final preseason game this Sunday with injuries. Backup quarterback Tyrod Taylor was carted off the field after a vicious hit to the chest by Jets pass rusher Micheal Clemons. New York also saw three players leave the game with concussions, but only one of them made the final roster: tight end Daniel Bellinger.

Head coach Brian Daboll has insisted that Taylor’s back injury is not serious, according to Darryl Slater of NJ.com. This is great news for Giants fans who may have worries that starting quarterback Daniel Jones will continue his trend of not being able to appear in every regular season game the Giants play. Since being drafted in 2019, Jones has missed at least two games each year, sitting out of six contests over the past year alone.

The Bellinger-concussion is significant as the fourth-round rookie out of San Diego State is currently set to start at tight end for New York with Ricky Seals-Jones on injured reserve to start the year. Going into the season as a rookie starter, Bellinger needs all the practice he can get before the season opener in Nashville.

Here are a couple other injury updates from around the league, starting with some good news from the Hoosier State:

  • The Colts are thrilled to get star linebacker Shaquille Leonard back in practice after the three-time first-team All-Pro missed the entirety of training camp, according to Nick Shook of NFL Network. Indianapolis activated Leonard just before it would be forced to commit him to the reserve/physically unable to perform list to start the season. This means he won’t be forced to miss the first four games of the year after offseason back surgery, but it doesn’t rule out that he still might. General manager Chris Ballard told James Boyd of The Athletic, “I can’t give you a timeline. Maybe Week 1, maybe Week 6. We’ll work and we’ll deal with it however we gotta deal with it.”
  • The Ty Smith that will start at left tackle for the Cowboys against the Buccaneers on September 11 may not be the one Dallas’s fans were hoping for. First-round pick Tyler Smith is being forced out at tackle with incumbent starter Tyron Smith on injured reserve. The latter Smith is set to undergo surgery this Friday that will “reattach a torn hamstring tendon to his left knee,” according to Michael Gehlken of The Dallas Morning News. The “uncommon sports injury” will likely hold the 31-year-old out until at least December.
  • Texans defensive end Derek Rivers will start the season on injured reserve after suffering a torn biceps tendon this week, according to Mark Berman of FOX Houston. Rivers earned his first career start with the Texans last year, tallying one sack on the year for Houston. The elbow injury is expected to keep Rivers out for up to three months.
  • Offseason free agent addition for the Bears wide receiver Tajae Sharpe will miss the entire 2022 season with a rib injury, according to Adam Jahns of The Athletic. The length of the absence was confirmed by head coach Matt Eberflus.

Colts Cut Roster Down To 53

August 30th, 2022 at 9:07pm CST by Ely Allen

Indianapolis has made a couple headline moves, but, most notably, succeeded in trimming their roster down to 53 players today. Here are the moves that helped them get down to the limit today:

Activated from active/physically unable to perform:

Released:

Waived:

Placed on IR:

The biggest stories of the day for the Colts come in the linebacking corps. In addition to adding star linebacker Leonard off the PUP, Indianapolis acquired second-year player Grant Stuard in a trade with Tampa Bay today. Stuard was primarily a special teamer with the Buccaneers last year, playing in every game as a rookie. He’ll go from one stacked linebacker room to another, likely backing up Leonard upon his arrival.

The Colts have quite an interesting rookie class. A sixth-round defensive tackle, Brooks is the only drafted rookie not to make the final roster besides sixth-round tight end Andrew Ogletree who will start his NFL career on injured reserve. None of this is spectacular, though. The interesting part is that Indianapolis will roster four undrafted rookies to start the 2022 NFL season.

Former SMU safety Trevor Denbow finds his way onto the initial 53 after leading the NFL this preseason with five special teams tackles. Cornerback Dallis Flowers can also thank his special teams value as his athleticism was supplemented by a 53-yard kickoff return to help him make the team out of Pitt State. Former Cornhusker JoJo Domann joins Leonard and Stuard in the linebackers room. And the French-Fries offensive line combination stays alive as Wesley French makes the final roster out of Western Michigan.

There were a number of other players who have special teams’ ability to thank for their roster spot in addition to Denbow and Flowers. Running back Deon Jackson played on all punt/kick return/coverage units for the Colts last year, earning him a tightly contested roster spot over Lindsay and Williams. Cornerback Tony Brown was the team’s highest-graded special teams player in the preseason, according to Pro Football Focus, and safety Rodney Thomas II played the third-most special teams snaps on the team.

Finally, the biggest performer of the Colts’ preseason was likely quarterback Sam Ehlinger whose stellar preseason led Indianapolis to roster three quarterbacks going into the season. The former-Longhorn’s impressive preseason play helped him earn a spot on the initial roster despite the Colts already rostering starter Matt Ryan and one of the league’s top backup quarterbacks in Nick Foles.

The Colts will have the opportunity tomorrow to announce any moves to form their 16-man practice squad. Players cut today who have not vested will have to clear waivers before returning to the team.

Latest On Colts’ Shaquille Leonard

August 27th, 2022 at 8:17pm CST by Adam La Rose

With the regular season now less than two weeks away, the Colts face an important decision regarding linebacker Shaquille Leonard. The team has the option to move him to the reserve/PUP list, but Joel A. Erickson of the Indianapolis Star notes that they are looking to avoid doing so. 

Moving the 27-year-old to the reserve list would make him ineligible for the first four weeks of the season, hence the club’s hesitancy to do so. Leonard has still yet to practice this offseason, as he continues to rehab from back surgery. He was never at 100% health last season either, dealing with an ankle injury.

Team officials have been increasingly open about the possibility that Leonard won’t be able to suit up for the regular season opener. Head coach Frank Reich recently said, though, that Leonard was “preparing like he’s playing Week 1.” However, he also admitted that the three-time All-Pro would need to adjust when back on the field, as he will likely still not have recovered in full by September.

“[GM] Chris Ballard and I have not had that exact conversation yet,” Reich said, when asked about placing Leonard on the reserve/PUP list. “Based on the fact that he’s really not out there yet, I guess you’d have to say that’s a possibility, but I’m not assuming that’s the case.”

Leonard had another hugely productive season in 2021, and his absence for any length would of course be a massive blow for the Colts’ defense. The lingering back issue still clouds his readiness for the regular season opener, but Reich pointed to practice time as a reason the team could avoid sidelining him for a month.

“From our standpoint, we really want to get him back out there when he’s cleared, but even if he’s not ready to play, get him out there,” he said. “You can’t get out there if you’re on PUP. You can’t participate in anything. We want to get [Leonard] participating, so at some point, even if he’s not ready to play, we’ve got to get him off PUP and get him taking reps, even if it’s going to take him however many weeks to get ready.”

The Colts have until Tuesday to decide on Leonard’s immediate future, something which will have significant implications for himself personally and the team generally.

AFC South Notes: Colts, Dupree, Texans

August 19th, 2022 at 12:09pm CST by Sam Robinson

Shaquille Leonard undergoing back surgery midway through the offseason seemed to put his early-season availability in question. Although the Colts‘ mid-June expectation was for Leonard to be back near the start of training camp, he remains on the team’s active/PUP list. Leonard should be expected to come off that list soon, as not doing so would mean four missed games, but Frank Reich does not expect his top linebacker to be 100% when he returns.

“I think when he gets cleared, he’s not going to be 100% and he’s going to have to work his way back into it,” Reich said, via ESPN.com’s Stephen Holder (on Twitter). “… He’s going to have to figure out how to play feeling the way he feels — not feeling 100%, feeling like maybe this isn’t all the way back but I still gotta figure out how to play winning football.”

The nerve issue for which Leonard underwent surgery affected him in 2021, leading to calf and ankle problems. Leonard still earned his third first-team All-Pro honor — during a season in which he intercepted four passes and led the NFL with eight forced fumbles — but the prospect of another season being impacted by the injury is somewhat concerning for the fifth-year star.

Here is the latest from the AFC South:

  • Bud Dupree pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge in connection with a January incident at a Walgreens, TMZ reports. The Titans outside linebacker turned himself in on a assault-fear of bodily injury charge in February. Police said Dupree grabbed a 20-year-old Walgreens employee, attempted to take his phone and fled the scene. The employee allegedly heckled Dupree and threatened to spit on the women accompanying the veteran pass rusher, according to TMZ. Dupree, who is set for his second Titans season, faces a potential suspension under the NFL’s personal conduct policy.
  • Dennis Kelly joined Leonard in undergoing a summer surgery. The veteran Colts tackle recently had a procedure done on one of his knees, Mike Chappell of CBS4 tweets. Kelly is competing for a swing job in Indianapolis, which is making another transition at left tackle. Matt Pryor and third-round rookie Bernhard Raimann are vying to be the team’s blindside starter. Kelly, who signed a one-year deal worth $1.27MM, has made 51 career starts. The 11th-year vet’s $75K guarantee obviously does not guarantee him a roster spot, and this surgery keeping him out of action for a stretch will not help his cause.
  • The Texans added Jarrod James to their coaching staff as an offensive assistant, Aaron Wilson of ProFootballNetwork.com tweets. James interned with the Chiefs, Vikings and Ravens in the late 2010s and had been working as Michigan State’s assistant offensive line coach this year.

Shaquille Leonard Uncertain For Week 1?

August 11th, 2022 at 3:12pm CST by Adam La Rose

Throughout the offseason, the health of Colts All-Pro linebacker Shaquille Leonard has been a key talking point. After undergoing back surgery, his availability for training camp was in question. More importantly, the possibility that he could miss regular season action remains. 

As FOX59’s Mike Chappell writes, “there’s no guarantee” that Leonard will be fully recovered in time for Week 1. The 27-year-old remains on the PUP list as he continues to recover, and hasn’t practiced at all this offseason. He expressed optimism about the success of the procedure, but declined to put a firm timetable on his rehab schedule.

“Shaq is preparing like he’s playing Week 1,” head coach Frank Reich said. “He’s doing a lot of extra work, and he’s getting his mind right, ready to play.” 

A healthy Leonard would of course, be massive for the Colts’ defense. The former second-rounder earned Pro Bowl and First-Team All-Pro honors for the third time in his four-year career last season, totaling 122 tackles, four interceptions and a league-leading eight forced fumbles. The Colts would be well-served to make sure Leonard is back to full health before activating him, considering the fact he played on an injured ankle all of last season.

With more than $78MM on the five-year extension he signed still yet to paid, Indianapolis would also be wise from a financial standpoint to tread carefully. He could be activated by August 30 to remain eligible to play in the season opener, but if he remains on the PUP list beyond that date, he would be sidelined for the first month of the campaign. Much will therefore depend on how he heals in the coming weeks, as the Colts look to undo last season’s disappointing finish.