Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor has been ruled out for Sunday’s game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The #Colts are ruling out Jonathan Taylor, Kenny Moore II and Kwity Paye for Sunday's game against the Jaguars.
"We'll see" on everyone else, per Shane Steichen.
— Nate Atkins (@NateAtkins_) October 4, 2024
Taylor has not practiced at all this week after suffering an ankle sprain in the fourth quarter of this past Sunday’s game with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Against a very stingy Steelers front, Taylor had managed to total 88 yards on 21 carries, averaging 4.2 yards per attempt.
The good news is that Taylor said earlier in the week that the injury is not as severe as the one he sustained in 2022, but some additional recovery time is still required.
Without Taylor, presumably, Trey Sermon will get the start at running back with I’m sure Tyler Goodson mixed in as well.
Sermon has carried the ball nine times this season totaling 24 yards with a touchdown. On 35 carries in 2023, Sermon averaged 4.6 yards per attempt. Goodson has no carries and one reception for two yards this season.
Potentially making things even more difficult for the Colts’ run game this week is that they could also be without Anthony Richardson, whose status is still up in the air. As we saw against the Steelers when Richardson exited the game, defenses defend the Colts run game much more aggressively when they don’t have to worry about the quarterback in the RPO game.
This week the Colts face a Jaguars team allowing 27.3 points per game this season, although they have had some success against the run, holding opponents to only 3.9 yards per rush.
Perhaps with Taylor sidelined and this being a Jaguars pass defense that is allowing a hefty 7.7 yards per pass play, we see a bit more of a pass-heavy approach from the Colts this Sunday.