Before practice Wednesday, Indianapolis Colts’ head coach Shane Steichen announced that cornerback JuJu Brents would be designated to return to the practice field.
Brents suffered an MCL knee injury in the Colts’ season opener against Houston. He was placed on injured reserve a few days later and it was initially reported that the injury could be season-ending.
With Brents now designated to return, that opens up a 21-day window for him to be added back to the Colts’ active roster. Whether it be Day 1 or Day 21, he can be activated at any time–it’s all dependent upon his health. Once that process takes place and Brents is back on the 53-man roster, he can then be available on Sundays.
Unfortunately for Brents, he has battled injuries since entering the NFL. During his 2023 rookie season, he would miss all of the team’s offseason programs and part of training camp and then appeared in just nine regular season games.
This past summer, a shoulder injury kept him out of the Colts’ preseason opener and a nose injury sustained early in the second preseason game would then keep him out of the finale.
For his career, which has spanned 10 games, Brents has allowed a completion rate of 67% on 55 targets at 14.6 yards per catch with five pass breakups and an interception.
Assuming we see Brents in a regular season game at some point in these final weeks, it’ll be interesting to see how the Colts divide up playing time at the cornerback position, given the emergence of Samuel Womack and the growth we’ve seen from Jaylon Jones.
As is the case for any young and experienced player, Brents is very much in need of reps for his own development.
(This article was updated to provide additional information.)