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The Indianapolis Colts hosted free-agent offensive tackle Jared Veldheer on a visit Monday, per the league’s transaction wire.
There is no denying the Colts need help at the offensive tackle position. Starting tackles Braden Smith (COVID-19) and Anthony Castonzo (knee/ankle) both missed the Week 16 loss against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Le’Raven Clark is on the injured reserve list with a torn Achilles and one of the replacements in Will Holden suffered an ankle injury during the Week 16 loss. The Colts are currently down to two healthy offensive tackles in J’Marcus Webb, who has reverted to the practice squad, and Chaz Green.
Veldheer, 33, was a third-round pick with the Oakland Raiders in the 2010 NFL draft. He’s appeared in 120 career games with 113 starts working at both the right and left tackle positions.
The Colts are in wait-and-see mode with their starters. The team won’t reveal if Smith was a positive test for COVID-19 or a close contact. If he’s the latter, he can return Wednesday. If he’s a positive test, he has to sit out 10 days if asymptomatic or 14 days if symptomatic.
It also isn’t clear if Castonzo will be ready to play in the regular-season finale. He’s been dealing with a knee injury but also suffered an ankle injury during Thursday’s practice ahead of the Week 16 game against the Steelers.
It will be interesting to see if anything comes of this visit, especially seeing as the Colts are thin at the tackle position.
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