The Colts are reportedly planning to put defensive end Samson Ebukam on injured reserve and designating him to return, according to the Indy Star’s Joel Erickson.
Ebukam would suffer an Achilles injury at the start of training camp, which presumably was going to end his season. However, as camp went on and the Colts didn’t place Ebukam on IR, it seemed more likely that they would designate him to return with the hope that he could possible make a return late in the season, perhaps during the playoffs.
Under the NFL’s previous IR rules, if a player was placed on IR before the initial roster was set, their season was over. The workaround to this for teams was placing that player on the 53-man roster first and then moving them to IR, allowing them to return that same season.
But a new rule has been implemented for this season, which allows teams to place up to two players on IR before rosters are set and designate them to return. Ebukam will take one of those spots for the Colts. This makes the roster construction process more friendly for teams, who now don’t have to make an additional cut.
Ebukam being designated to return doesn’t guaranteed that Ebukam will be available at any point this season, but it gives him and the Colts that option at least.
As Erickson notes, a return this season yet would be similar to that of former Rams’ running back Cam Akers, who suffered his injury in mid-July and returned to practice in late-December. This, of course, is the outlier scenario and not the norm.
After signing as a free agent, the 2023 season was Ebukam’s first with the Colts and he made his impact felt right away. Ebukam led the team in sacks with 9.5 and had the second-best run defense grade on the team as well by PFF’s metrics.