Indianapolis Colts defenisve end Kemoko Turay has been working diligently trying to get back from the ankle injury that claimed his 2019 season early, but complications arose this offseason due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Turay wasn’t the only person to have complications with rehabbing from surgery because of COVID this year, but it seemingly complicated the timeline for the third-year pass rusher.
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General manager Chris Ballard told the media Sunday that Turay is working hard to return but that it has been a long process.
“The surgery he had was a major surgery. COVID did not help this. (Kemoko) Turay has done everything we’ve asked,” Ballard said. “At the end of the day, he’s not ready and we’re not going to put a guy out there that’s not ready.”
Because Turay wasn’t ready to go by the time the Colts reported for training camp and began padded practices in August, the team placed him on the reserve/PUP list to begin the season.
This means the Rutgers product is forced to miss at least the first six weeks of the 2020 season. The plan is that will be enough time for Turay to get back healthy.
However, Ballard admits that Turay is still feeling some pain in the ankle that underwent surgery.
“We’re going to shoot for six weeks from now to try to get him back. He’s still having some pain in that ankle,” Ballard said. “He’s rehabbing his butt off and working his butt off. The trainers are doing a really good job with him, but he’s just not there yet. We’re not going to put him out there when he’s not ready to go.”
The Colts defensive end room will have to make up for the loss in Turay, who provides the pass rush with speed and bend from the edge. In his stead, the Colts will likely use a rotation of Ben Banogu, Al-Quadin Muhammad, Tyquan Lewis and Denico Autry.