Center Ryan Kelly expects to be on the field Sunday for the Indianapolis Colts’ Week 16 matchup with the Tennessee Titans.
Prior to Wednesday’s practice and meeting with reporters, Kelly said that there’s a “high chance” he plays in this week’s game. Kelly added that the rehab “took a little longer” than anticipated.
Kelly was placed on injured reserve prior to the Colts’ Week 10 matchup against Buffalo. He was designated to return to practice last week and did practice all three days but in a limited fashion.
After initially being listed as questionable on Friday for the Colts’ matchup this past Sunday with Denver, Kelly was downgraded to out on Saturday. Danny Pinter would get the start over rookie Tanor Bortolini.
With Anthony Richardson back under center in recent weeks and a change at right guard, the Colts’ run game has very much improved in recent weeks. However, the overall offensive line play–in large part due to injuries–has still been shaky, particularly in pass protection, where Richardson is among the highest-pressured quarterbacks since returning to the starting lineup.
Any sort of chance of consistent success for the Colts offense is going to have to begin with more steady play from the collective offensive line unit in the remaining games of the season.
This season, the Titans’ defensive front is allowing 4.1 yards per rush, the seventh-best mark this season, and rank 30th in pressure rate.
Kelly this season is 20th out of 43 centers in PFF’s pass-blocking efficiency metric and is 29th in run-blocking grade.
