The Indianapolis Colts are returning back to the practice field on Wednesday to begin preparing for their Week 4 matchup with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Beforehand, head coach Shane Steichen met with the media and mentioned that defensive end Kwity Paye would not be practicing on Wednesday, according to Joel Erickson of the Indy Star.
The Colts will see how Paye progresses throughout the week before determining his status for Sunday’s game.
Paye sustained a quad injury late in Sunday’s win over the Chicago Bears. Afterward, Paye told Erickson that he would get scans to determine the severity of the injury. No further specifics have been provided.
Paye put together an impressive performance against the Bears. He totaled five pressures in that game–the most on the team–including one sack, and did well against the run to set the edge to contain the ball carrier.
The Colts defensive front will face a difficult test this week going up against the run-heavy Steelers and will have to prove that last week’s performance against the run wasn’t a fluke.
Although Pittsburgh is averaging only 3.6 yards per rush this season, they are very committed to running the ball, ranking second in rush attempts per game, resulting in them averaging the 12th most rushing yards per contest.
In pass protection, the Steelers offensive line unit ranks 15th in ESPN’s pass-block win rate metric.
With DeForest Buckner on injured reserve, the Colts are already a bit thin along the defensive line. We will monitor Paye’s status the remainder of the week.
For what it’s worth–and these are two different injuries–dealing with a hamstring injury two weeks ago, Paye did not practice on the Wednesday or Thursday before the matchup with Green Bay and was limited on Friday. He did end up playing.
