Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor met with the media Thursday for the first time since the offseason workout program concluded in June.
A lot has happened over the course of those few months. Taylor requested a trade after the Colts made it clear they weren’t going to offer him a contract extension until he proves he’s healthy. The entire situation became public, and it appeared the relationship was too broken to be fixed.
Buy Colts TicketsHowever, Taylor is set to be activated from the PUP list soon after missing the first four weeks of the season. Thursday marked the first time he met with the media since the entire saga started during the summer.
Here are five takeaways of his press conference with the quotes coming courtesy of Kevin Bowen of 1075 The Fan:
1
Side-stepping any contract questions
Taylor made it clear he wasn’t going to answer any questions about his current contract situation or the trade request he made during the preseason. He focused solely on his health and getting back on the field with his teammates.
Anytime a reporter asked about his contract or the trade request, he would answer with something along these lines:
“Yeah, I’m not gonna get into any contract stuff, it’s a big day for me. So just being to get back out there and it’s a big day for me going back out there and doing what I love. So I’m just excited for that. I’m actually laser focused on that because it’s it’s not a huge day for necessarily…I know teammates and coaches are excited…you guys don’t usually see me super excited all the time. But I’m really excited.”
Credit to the Indy media for pushing to get an answer, but Taylor was making sure the focus was on his health.
2
Fully healthy
Taylor started off the press conference by telling the media how excited he is to “finally be healthy.” He said both he and the Colts were on the same page in terms of making his health the priority.
“Number one, first off, it feels really good to finally be healthy. The whole time, the main goal, was to be healthy. Everyone in this whole thing, the main goal was to be healthy, to go out there and be able to do what I love, which is to play football. Going through that journey this whole time, there’s been a lot of things that have been said and done, but at the end of the day, for everybody, the number one overall goal was to be healthy and I think everyone is on the same page with that.”
3
Never a specific date of return
Taylor suffered an ankle sprain during the 2022 season that eventually needed to be cleaned up. In January, he underwent an arthroscopic debridement, a minimally-invasive procedure that typically deals with cleaning out scar tissue.
While the timeline for recovery typically spans a matter of weeks, Taylor was absent from the practice field for months. He and the Colts have stuck to the story that he’s been injured this entire time, and we’ll probably never truly know how much of his absence was due to the contract dispute.
But Taylor said the ankle needed more time to heal and that every surgery is different depending on the person.
“Over the course of this offseason. There was never a specific date because there’s always progressions. There’s always, we’ve got to break through this wall and we’ve got to break through that next wall. So just being able to maintain that perseverance until you get to achieve the goal.
So at the end of the day, everyone heals different, no surgery is the same. And all that matters is can you persevere each and every single day? Because, I’ll tell you one thing, rehab is tough. So now going through that, for the first time, a real surgical rehab, I commend those guys who have had some devastating injuries.”
4
Side-stepped questions about his future
Taylor was non-committal on his future with the team. That was to be expected considering the stance he took during the press conference to avoid answering any questions about his contract dispute or trade request.
“I don’t think it matters on if I’m saying I’m committed or not, because I’m here. If someone wasn’t committed they wouldn’t be here. Right now I’m here and my number one goal is to really attack this first practice. It’s been over 290 days I believe (since his last practice). If you are not doing what you love, you’re going to notice it. It’s been over 290 days, so my main goal has to been to attack this first day. Yesterday was a walk-through so today is the second day.”
5
The Bottom Line
The bottom line here is that Taylor is back. For how long after this season is best left for another discussion. What’s important is that he’s healthy and he does seem to be eager to get back onto the field. Whether Taylor’s future will be repping the horseshoe remains to be seen, but getting his talents back into this offense is going to cause a lot of issues for opposing defenses. The fact that he side-stepped all the questions about his future with the team tells us this saga is far from over. But if he returns to form, it may not be the focus of the team until the offseason.
