The Indianapolis Colts announced on Saturday that they’ve elevated Mark Glowinski from the practice squad to the active roster for their crucial Week 15 game with Denver.
Each practice squad player can be elevated to the gameday roster up to three times over the course of an NFL season. For Glowinski, this will be his second elevation.
Presumably, Glowinski will be the Colts’ starting right guard once again this week, just as he was against New England in Week 13 when the team decided to bench rookie Dalton Tucker.
Glowinski is an experienced player, coming into the 2024 season with 124 NFL appearances, including 59 games in which he played with the Colts from 2017-2021. However, Glowinski wasn’t on an NFL roster until the Colts added him to the practice squad just a few weeks ago.
His presence on the offensive line against the Patriots provided the Colts with some needed stability in the run game–an area they had struggled with the month prior.
According to PFF’s metrics, when running behind Glowinski versus the Patriots, Jonathan Taylor averaged 4.5 yards per rush on seven attempts in Sunday’s game. In pass protection, Glowinski allowed three pressures.
The Colts’ offensive line will be up against a very disruptive Denver Broncos defensive front this week, a unit that ranks top five in pressure rate and yards per rush surrendered.
If you’re wondering why Glowinski is still on the practice squad and not the 53-man roster even though he will be starting, well, for the Colts, it comes down to flexibility. As mentioned, Glowinski still has an additional elevation available after this game, and with him on the practice squad, a roster cut doesn’t have to be made in order to make room for him.
Eventually, Glowinski will have to be added to the active roster, but that won’t have to happen until Week 17, giving the Colts some additional time before having to make that decision.