The Indianapolis Colts placed kicker Matt Gay and wide receiver Marcus Johnson on the protected practice squad on Tuesday, per the league’s transaction wire.
The Colts haven’t utilized the protected practice squad often this season—just with Gay the last two weeks. Even though rookie kicker Rodrigo Blankenship has been extremely solid, the Colts signed Gay to the practice squad a few weeks ago for insurance.
It makes sense that the Colts would protect Johnson, who has been a strong contributor since re-joining the team two weeks ago following the injury to rookie Michael Pittman. Johnson played the third-most snaps among wide receivers in Week 5 for the Colts.
As the league tries to make it easier for teams to navigate through COVID-19, the practice squads were expanded to 16 spots. The league also added the “protection” measure for four of those players. If a player is protected, other teams are not allowed to sign them to their active roster.
The protected practice squads are rest after each week of games.
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