The Indianapolis Colts have activated center Ryan Kelly and linebacker Jaylon Carlies from injured reserve for their Week 16 matchup against the Tennessee Titans.
Kelly and Carlies were listed on Friday’s final injury report as questionable but that designation has been removed as well, so each player will be available for Sunday.
Kelly was placed on injured reserve after Week 9 with a knee injury, while Carlies has been out since exiting the team’s Week 7 matchup against Miami with a fibula injury. Both players were designated to return to practice last week but did not play against Denver.
Kelly will slide back into the starting center role, which over the last two games has belonged to Danny Pinter. The Colts have improved in the run game as of late, but since Anthony Richardson returned to the starting lineup in Week 11, he’s been among the most pressured quarterbacks in football.
Kelly this season is 20th out of 43 centers in PFF’s pass-blocking efficiency metric and is 29th in run-blocking grade.
Carlies, meanwhile, could get the start next to Zaire Franklin with EJ Speed already ruled out. In Week 7, a game in which Speed missed, Carlies was the other nickel linebacker next to Franklin with Grant Stuard coming on the field as the third linebacker when in base.
A former college safety, Carlies brings added coverage ability to the linebacker position, holding pass-catchers to just 6.6 yards per catch with a pass breakup. He’s also shown to be a reliable tackler and has one sack, while being a special teams contributor as well.
In order to make room on the 53-man roster, the Colts waived safety Darren Hall.
