The Indianapolis Colts have been without starting running back Jonathan Taylor for their last two games. They have gone 1-1 without him, defeating the Tennessee Titans in overtime in Week 13 before losing to the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 14.
Taylor has missed those games because of a thumb injury he suffered in Week 12 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers which required surgery. Opinions varied on when he could get back in the lineup and head coach Shane Steichen provided an update this week.
He said that the team expects Taylor to be back with them before the regular season is over. While there is no concrete timeline for him to return, reporters did ask if Taylor would be able to get on the field for this weekend’s contest against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Not surprisingly, he didn’t give a definitive answer one way or the other.
“We’ll see how the week goes,” Steichen said, via Joel A. Erickson of the Indianapolis Star.
Saturday is a huge game for Indianapolis. They and Pittsburgh are two of the teams jockeying for position in the Wild Card picture in the AFC. A victory would go a long way to solidifying their standing, while a loss could knock them out of the mix altogether, depending on how other matchups go.
Without Taylor in the last two games, the Colts’ running game hasn’t been very productive. Zack Moss, who was excellent at the start of the season in place of an injured Talyor, has not had the same impact in recent games.
Moss has carried the ball 32 times in the last two games for only 79 yards. He added six receptions for 32 yards as well and did not score a touchdown. In his last game against the Buccaneers, Taylor had 91 yards on the ground with two touchdowns alone.
If the Colts want to make the postseason, they will need to get Taylor back into the mix as soon as possible. He isn’t the only player they are keeping an eye on injury-wise, as the team is taking the same approach to offensive lineman Braden Smith and cornerback JuJu Brents as they are with Taylor.
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