The Indianapolis Colts made a pair of practice squad moves ahead of their Week 7 matchup with the Miami Dolphins, announcing that they’ve signed linebacker Austin Ajiake while releasing wide receiver Ethan Fernea as the corresponding move.
If this sounds familiar, it’s because just a few days ago the Colts added Fernea to the practice squad and released Ajiake as the corresponding move.
At that time, that move was likely made because the Colts were short-handed at wide receiver, with Michael Pittman, Josh Downs, and Alec Pierce all on the injury report, and adding Fernea to the mix bolstered the positional depth during practice.
Now the Colts find themselves a bit shorthanded at linebacker. After being listed as questionable on Friday, EJ Speed was downgraded to doubtful for Sunday’s game and Liam Anderson was elevated from the practice squad to the gameday roster for the upcoming matchup.
A 2023 undrafted rookie out of UNLV, Ajiake joined the Colts practice squad in December of last season and spent the offseason and training camp with the team as well.
He appeared in all three preseason games, totaling 64 defensive snaps and 32 on special teams. He recorded 11 tackles and a pass breakup. Ajiake hasn’t appeared in a regular season NFL game.
Fernea was with Indianapolis during the 2022 and 2023 seasons, appearing in four regular season games as a special teams contributor. After an injury in mid-August, he was waived-injured at that time.