Indianapolis Colts head coach Frank Reich told reporters Friday that safety Julian Blackmon would be the only player ruled out against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 1.
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This is a very encouraging sign for the Colts, who had a number of players listed on their injury report this week. But it appears there is optimism that almost the entire roster will be healthy and ready to go for the Week 1 opener.
Only rookie safety Julian Blackmon has been ruled out for Sunday’s game. Reich praises the players for doing a good job of staying healthy and getting ready for Week 1. #Colts
— George Bremer (@gmbremer) September 11, 2020
Despite starting offensive linemen Quenton Nelson, Anthony Castonzo and Ryan Kelly all either missing time or being limited this week, Reich told the media that all three are ready to go and will start against the Jaguars.
Blackmon is still working his way back into the Colts’ system after missing most of training camp rehabbing from a torn ACL he suffered in December during his final game at Utah.
It is expected that Blackmon will be worked along slowly and may not make a full impact until October. But he’s already ahead of schedule with his rehab and even got limited practices in this week, which means he’s close.
But this is a positive sign that the Colts only have one player on the active roster ruled out for injury, especially given some of the names that were on the injury report this week.
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