There were no changes to the Indianapolis Colts’ Thursday injury report, which still included three key defensive starters not practicing.
Julian Blackmon (shoulder) – did not practice
DeForest Buckner (back) – did not practice
Kwity Paye (hamstring) – did not practice
Josh Downs (ankle) – limited
Matt Gay (hernia) – full participant
DeForest Buckner told James Boyd of The Athletic before practice that he would be a “game-time decision” for Sunday’s game against the Green Bay Packers. Buckner added that this is a similar back injury that he had to work through last season, and a key factor in determining if can play or not will be making sure that injury won’t worsen.
Julian Blackmon played 100 percent of the Colts’ defensive snaps in the Week 1 loss to the Houston Texans but has been sidelined the last two days with a shoulder injury.
The Colts secondary already faces a number of question marks without JuJu Brents at cornerback and those unknowns would only be heightened if Blackmon is unable to play against a Packers’ offense that has its share of playmaking options at receiver and tight end.
Paye is working through a hamstring injury after playing 52 snaps on Sunday, the most at the defensive end position for the Colts. Paye was one of the better ranked defensive ends by ESPN’s pass-rush win rate metric in Week 1.
Some good news is that Matt Gay was again a full participant, so there was no setback as he continues to work his way back from a hernia injury. And Josh Downs was limited once again. He said on Wednesday that he feels he is “80-90%,” according to Boyd.
Having Downs back in the mix on offense would provide some needed consistency to the passing game. He was having an impressive summer before the ankle injury.
