There was plenty of excitement for the return of Indianapolis Colts defensive end Kemoko Turay during the 2020 season after an ankle injury ended his 2019 campaign, but it was apparent he wasn’t fully himself.
The former second-round pick was still being bothered by the ankle injury and subsequent surgery following the 2019 season. This led to Turay having a minimal impact in 2020 while undergoing another surgery this offseason to repair the posterior tendon.
Even with that surgery this offseason, Turay expects to be ready for training camp by the end of July.
“That’s the plan,” Turay told the media at OTAs. “Because it’s the posterior tendon, I took my time this time to make sure it healed.”
Turay suffered a dislocated ankle during a game against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 6 of the 2019 season. After going through the initial surgery, Turay ran into some complications during his rehab because of COVID-19.
But now he’s working toward getting back to full health and working on getting back that comfortability of trusting his ankle and his game.
“Being that I missed 14 games it was hard for me to adjust in the beginning. Missing time off and missing eight games being on PUP,” Turay said. “I needed to adjust to running and adjust to the game speed. After a while, as you could see at the end of the season, I started to get a little more comfortable.”
There is some pressure on Turay to perform this season as he’s entering a contract year. That along with the fact that the Colts added Kwity Paye and Dayo Odeyingbo in the 2021 draft adds a bit more pressure for Turay to prove he belongs with the Colts for a few more years.
Turay can help the Colts’ pass rush in a great way if he can find some consistency in a role that will ask him to get upfield as quickly as possible.
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