What was once thought of as the strength of the team, the offensive line for the Indianapolis Colts has been ravaged by injuries and poor play. Two games with his new team, left tackle Eric Fisher has contributed to that in his own right.
When the Colts signed Fisher during the offseason, it was known he would miss time as he rehabs from a torn Achilles he suffered during the AFC Championship game back in January. Fortunately, he wound up only missing the season opener against the Seattle Seahawks.
He returned in Week 2 against the Los Angeles Rams and put on a strong performance in his 2021 debut. Then the Tennessee Titans had their way with him on the edge in Week 3.
“I thought I felt pretty good in Week 2,” Fisher told reporters Thursday. “I was pretty disappointed with my performance last week.”
Fisher was credited with allowing seven pressures, four quarterback hits and two sacks in the Colts’ uninspiring loss against the Titans in Week 3. It was a poor job all around, but Fisher stood out as one of the bigger duds of the day.
It’s somewhat understandable. He’s just getting his feet back under him after undergoing one of the worst injuries in sports. There’s a good chance he’s not at 100% yet—at least in terms of his comfortability.
This makes his technique even more important moving forward.
“As a lineman, I think one of the things we always look at is when something’s not right, whether you’re in play 80 of the game or you have a little injury or banged up here or there – always go back to technique,” Fisher said. “So I think that’s my focus this week, is concentrate on technique. Technique always wins and that’s where I’m at.”
The Colts offensive line is extremely banged up. All-Pro left guard Quenton Nelson is dealing with a high-ankle sprain and is likely to miss his first start ever in Week 4. Right tackle Braden Smith has a foot injury and hasn’t practiced since suffering the injury during the season opener.
Now, right guard Mark Glowinski was downgraded to “DNP” on Thursday’s injury report and is in serious question for the road game against the Dolphins. Even though center Ryan Kelly hasn’t been on the injury report, he hasn’t played up to standard either.
All of this goes along with the fact that the Colts have a quarterback with two sprained ankles, extremely limited mobility and a history of holding the ball too long even when he’s healthy.
But Fisher won’t use the fact that he’s coming off of a major injury as an excuse. His only focus is improving every week.
“I think mentally I’m right where I need to be. Obviously, it’s a pretty crazy injury and the one thing I was told going into surgery, post-surgery and throughout rehab is like the last thing to come is that quick-twitch explosiveness,” Fisher said. “So I’m just working my butt off, doing everything I can to build that. It’s something I can’t control. I can only control how I work with it and that’s what I’m doing. But no excuses, if I’m out there I’m expected to do a job to a certain standard and that’s what I’m working for.”
Against a Dolphins pass rush that has been in the top half of the league to begin the season, the Colts are going to need Fisher to bounce back in a big way on Sunday.
Like Colts Wire on Facebook
Follow Colts Wire on Twitter
Follow Kevin on Twitter (@KevinHickey11)
[lawrence-related id=62658,62655,62653]
[listicle id=62624]