Tag: Jonathan Taylor

Indianapolis Colts star running back Jonathan Taylor exited Sunday’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers with an ankle injury.

On Monday evening, the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport provided an update on Taylor’s injury:

“He was diagnosed with a high-ankle sprain. A mild high-ankle sprain, the words of one source. He’s okay. This is good news. Still could miss time though.”

For the full Rapoport interview, watch below:

From @NFLGameDay Kickoff: #Colts QB Anthony Richardson (hip pointer/abdominal strain) is day-to-day; #Colts RB Jonathan Taylor (high-ankle sprain) could miss time; The #Patriots will continue to roll with Jacoby Brissett. pic.twitter.com/APFD7jMn0u

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 30, 2024

Head coach Shane Steichen also spoke about Taylor’s injury on Monday with the Indianapolis media. Steichen said that the team was not planning to place Taylor on injured reserve, which would require him to miss at least four games.

Kevin Bowen of 107.5 The Fan also noted that it was a high ankle sprain that impacted Taylor’s 2022 season.

Facing one of the NFL’s top run defenses this past Sunday, it wasn’t always easy in the run game for Taylor, especially once Anthony Richardson exited the game and the Pittsburgh defense defended Taylor much more aggressively.

However, Taylor still managed to rush for 88 yards on 21 carries, averaging 4.2 yards per attempt.

Taylor has put together an impressive three game stretch, which includes rushing for 110 yards against the Chicago Bears and 103 yards against the Green Bay Packers, and doing so on only 12 carries.

Taylor’s success in the run game is one of the keys to unlocking the entire Colts’ offense.

The Colts will be back at practice on Wednesday, at which point we will get additional updates on Taylor’s status.

Following another 100-yard performance this past Sunday, Indianapolis Colts’ running back Jonathan Taylor was nominated for the FedEx Air/Ground Player of the Week.

Shane Steichen and the Colts offense made a concerted effort to get Taylor the ball this week. After 28 combined carries against Houston and Green Bay, Taylor had 23 against Chicago.

Taylor finished the game with 110 rushing yards at 4.8 yards per rush and two touchdowns, one of which went for 29 yards. On a day where the passing game struggled to get going, Taylor provided a consistent spark for the Colts’ offense.

Although each week will be different given how the game unfolds, the Colts seemed to unlock their offensive blueprint on Sunday, with a heavy dose of Taylor and Anthony Richardson on designed runs.

Taylor was one of six players nominated for this weekly award. Also nominated were Andy Dalton, Jauan Jennings, Kyren Williams, Saquon Barkley, and Derrick Henry.

Unlike in past years when there was a ground winner and an air winner of the award, this season there will be two winners regardless of the position. The FedEx Air and Ground Players of the Year will be announced during the week of the Super Bowl.

Colts’ fans can vote for Taylor here.

Each week during the 2024 season, FedEx will make donations of $2,000 in honor of the each winner to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in the United States.

Typically we will hand out just one player of the game award, but this week, we went with two following the Indianapolis Colts win over the Chicago Bears.

With a two-interception performance, cornerback Jaylon Jones was the defensive player of the game, while on offense, it was Jonathan Taylor who again eclipsed 100 yards on the ground.

In this game, there was a much more noticeable effort to get Taylor the ball. After carrying the ball 28 total times in Weeks 1 and 2, Taylor had 23 carries in this week’s game alone.

And as he often does, Taylor made the most of his touches, rushing for 110 yards and two touchdowns. For those without a calculator, that’s an average of 4.8 yards per rush and included a 29-yard touchdown run.

There were a few runs where Taylor’s elusiveness and ability in the open field were on full display.

However, going beyond the stat sheet, Taylor’s presence and performance in the run game provided the offense with some needed stability.

With the short and intermediate passing games again struggling to find any sort of consistency, the Colts were having issues sustaining drives.

Despite the defense’s ability this week to stop the Bears’ run game and get off the field on third downs, the Colts lost the time of possession battle by over 10 minutes.

Having Taylor to lean on at least helped take some burden off the passing game, by putting the offense in some more manageable down-and-distances.

The ups and downs from Richardson in the early going are to be expected. However, one way to provide him some added support is to continue leaning heavily on Taylor and the run game.

If there’s an emphasis for the Indianapolis Colts’ offense heading into Week 3, it needs to be getting Jonathan Taylor some early touches and, in general, finding a way to get the run game going.

In part last week, it’s because the Packers’ dominated the time of possession for much of the game, but despite Taylor having 103 rushing yards on nearly 9.0 yards per rush, he had only 12 carries through three quarters.

Yes, the Colts were trailing the entire game, and that was part of the lack of touches, but it was never more than a two-score deficit. Down 10-0 coming out of halftime, running the ball–especially with the success Taylor was having–should still be a part of the offense at that time.

Having a steady run game to lean on does wonders for the rest of the offense. For one, it can help extend drives, which the Colts have had trouble doing through two games.

On top of that, success creates short down-and-distance situations, which forces the defense to defend the entire field and can open up opportunities in the pass game.

Also, and not to be forgotten, the combination of Taylor and Anthony Richardson in the backfield can be a real stressor for opponents, but the Colts haven’t been able to unlock that potential as of yet.

Through two weeks, the Chicago Bears’ run defense ranks in the middle of the pack in terms of yards per rush allowed at 4.5 and 13th in total rushing yards per game with 107.

It’s been brought up a lot this week, how Richardson needs more help around him–well, a strong run game can do a lot of the heavy lifting and be a quarterback’s best friend.