The Indianapolis Colts were back on the field Monday for their fourth practice of 2023 training camp at the Grand Park Sports Complex in Westfield.
Amid the Jonathan Taylor saga, the Colts returned from a day off. That day off included rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson undergoing a procedure to correct his nasal septum, which forced him to miss Monday’s practice.
It was an extremely physical practice as the Colts were out there in shells (helmets and shoulder pads) rather than the full pads. We also conducted a quick rundown of the news, notes and highlights from the practice.
Here are seven takeaways from Day 4 of Colts training camp:
1
Injuries and Attendance
- RB Jonathan Taylor (ankle) and DE Tyquan Lewis (knee) remain on the active/PUP list and did not practice.
- S Julian Blackmon (hamstring) and CB Julius Brents (hamstring) did not practice for a fourth consecutive day.
- DE Samson Ebukam (hamstring) did not practice for a third consecutive day.
- CB Darius Rush (shoulder) and OT Jake Witt (hip) did not practice for a second consecutive day.
- TE Will Mallory (foot) was removed from the PUP list and made his practice debut.
- RB Zack Moss (arm) suffered a broken arm during practice and is expected to miss roughly six weeks.
- QB Anthony Richardson (nose) did not practice due to the nasal septum procedure.
2
Zack Moss injury adds more questions to backfield
Moss was acting as the RB1 amid the absence of Taylor throughout the offseason and early part of training camp. He was having a solid camp as well until he suffered the broken arm during Monday’s practice. Now, the Colts will lean on a mixture of Deon Jackson, Jake Funk, sixth-round pick Evan Hull and undrafted free-agent rookie Zavier Scott. Don’t be surprised if a mid-tier veteran is added to the room soon.
3
No surprise at QB1
With Richardson out due to the nasal procedure, there was no surprise that Minshew took every rep as the starting quarterback. According to Jake Arthur of Sports Illustrated’s Horseshoe Huddle, “Minshew went 6-of-7 with completions to [Zack] Moss (3), Michael Pittman Jr., Deon Jackson, and Drew Ogletree.”
4
Play of the day?
While Minshew saw all the work with the first-team offense, it was Sam Ehlinger who may have had the play of the day. The aforementioned Arthur gave a great description of how the play went down:
Arguably the biggest play of the day came at the hand of quarterback Sam Ehlinger, who saw extended action behind Minshew in Richardson’s absence. Defensive tackle McTelvin bulled forward with a would-be sack of Ehlinger but the QB continued the play and launched the ball about 50 yards downfield, off-balance to wide receiver Ethan Fernea for a score.
And yes, there is a video of it.
Ehlinger with a good escape from pressure to deliver the ball to WR Ethan Fernea deep pic.twitter.com/fsR4O8iYgd
— Jay Robins 🧾mark (@RobinsLucas) July 31, 2023
5
Shaquille Leonard limited
As expected, Leonard’s workload was reduced a bit when the shells came on. He’s still working his way back after missing the entire spring workout program and even though it’s been a very encouraging start to training camp, the Colts have to be smart. Leonard didn’t participate in the 11-on-11 drills but did work in the 7-on-7 drills.
6
Darrell Baker Jr. continuing to impress
As rookie Julius Brents (hamstring) has yet to make his debut, it has left a void at one of the starting boundary cornerback spots. So far, that has been filled by Darrell Baker Jr., who is coming off a strong showing during the spring. Baker Jr. has constantly worked with the first-team defense in Brents’ absence and should be viewed as a favorite for a depth spot going into the preseason.
7
Jelani Woods injury?
This will be something to keep an eye on. Woods left practice early Monday following individual drills and appeared to be getting his hamstring worked on by the training staff. Woods missed time during the spring due to a hamstring injury, and head coach Shane Steichen confirmed after practice it was a hamstring injury but didn’t offer more details than that.
