Indianapolis Colts defensive end Kwity Paye returned to the practice field on Friday ahead of the team’s Week 2 matchup with the Green Bay Packers.
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Paye had missed the first two practices of the week with a hamstring injury. We will find out later this afternoon whether Paye was a limited of full participant at today’s practice.
Paye would play 52 defensive snaps against the Houston Texans–tied for the most on the team at the defensive end position for the Colts.
He was disruptive with those pass rush opportunities, totaling three pressures, including one sack. By ESPN’s pass-rush win rate metric, Paye ranked 10th among all defensive ends, with a win-rate of 31 percent, which included being double-teamed on 20 percent of his snaps.
Paye is coming off of what he called a “great” offseason, where he worked out four or five times a day, losing 15 pounds overall, while still putting on muscle mass.
Although he’s coming off an 8.5 sack season in 2023, the goal is more pass rush consistency, after totaling only 28 pressures that year. It’s safe to say that after Week 1, Paye is off to a strong start in that regard.
It goes without saying but having Paye available on Sunday would be huge for a Colts defensive front that has to bounce back against the run and will face a difficult challenge in doing so with Josh Jacobs on the Packers.
Then, of course, we all know the importance of generating pressure on the quarterback. Right now, it looks like Malik Willis will get the start for the Packers, but he will still have plenty of pass-catching weapons around him.