Indianapolis Colts’ right tackle Braden Smith was back on the practice field Thursday after not practicing on Wednesday.
https://twitter.com/NateAtkins_/status/1839354873651007696
Smith was on the injury report with a knee injury. He did not practice last Friday either with what was called knee soreness but did play every snap this past Sunday against the Chicago Bears. Smith did have offseason surgery.
Once practice is over, we will find out if Smith was a full participant or if he was limited. But it appears that Smith not practicing is more so about giving his knee some rest than anything else.
Smith, along with the rest of the Colts’ offensive line, is off to a good start this season. Over 87 pass-blocking snaps, Pro Football Focus has credited Smith with only four pressures, including just one over the last two weeks, and one sack.
In the run game, Smith has the seventh-best run-blocking grade among all tackles by PFF’s metrics.
As alluded to, the Colts offensive line unit as a whole has been a strength of this team this season. By ESPN’s pass-block win rate metric, the Colts rank third and in run-block win rate, they rank first through three weeks.
The Colts offensive line will face a difficult test this week against a very good Pittsburgh Steelers defensive front.