Tag: Kenny Moore

Prior to Wednesday’s practice taking place, Indianapolis Colts cornerback Kenny Moore told reporters that he would not be practicing today.

Moore is still working through a hip injury that he suffered late in the Colts’ Week 3 win over the Chicago Bears. Moore did not practice at all last week and did not play this past Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Before this injury, Moore had been one of the better coverage cornerbacks in football through three games by Pro Football Focus’ advanced coverage metric.

In Moore’s place, Chris Lammons manned the slot against the Steelers. Lammons finished that game with a sack, a big fumble recovery near midfield, and allowed four receptions on five targets for 62 yards, according to PFF.

On the boundary opposite of Jaylon Jones in this matchup was primarily Sam Womack, who took the majority of those snaps after splitting playing time with Dallis Flowers the last two weeks.

Jones was able to come up with a pair of big interceptions against the Bears and Womack had two key pass breakups against the Steelers, but the depth of this Colts’ secondary–which was already an unknown–is being tested right now.

Currently, the 7.1 yards per pass attempt that the Colts are allowing is the eight-most in football through four games.

The Indianapolis Colts already thin cornerback room will be put to the test even further this Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers, with head coach Shane Steichen mentioning after Friday’s practice that Kenny Moore would be out.

Moore suffered a hip injury late in Sunday’s win over the Chicago Bears and did not practice at all during the week.

The Colts have already been without JuJu Brents, who was placed on injured reserve after the team’s Week 1 loss to Houston. Now, without Moore, the cornerback room consists of Jaylon Jones, Sam Womack, Dallis Flowers, and Chris Lammons.

With Moore on the field, we’ve seen Womack and Flowers rotating at the boundary position opposite of Jones. So one option for Indianapolis is to continue doing that with Lammons playing in the slot.

Another route the Colts could go is starting Womack at the nickel, where he does have experience, then leaving Flowers to take all of the boundary cornerback snaps.

This week the Colts are facing a run-heavy Steelers offense that ranks second in rush attempts per game and 12th in rushing yards per game.

Through the air, however, Justin Fields has been an efficient passer, completing 73 percent of his throws at 6.9 yards per attempt with two touchdowns and one interception.

His top targets have been George Pickens, Calvin Austin, who lines up primarily in the slot, and tight end Pat Freiermuth.

The cornerback position was a big unknown entering the offseason for the Colts, but GM Chris Ballard chose to largely rely heavily on the internal development of players that were already on the roster. That strategy is now being put to the test right away this season.

Pro Football Focus is rolling out a new advanced coverage metric and ranked among the best cornerbacks in this category is the Colts’ Kenny Moore.

For more on how this metric is calculated, click here, but here is a brief synopsis from PFF of what goes into this coverage grade:

“Advanced coverage grade uses machine learning to map the separation allowed on a play to the expected PFF coverage grade the player would have earned had they been targeted.”

PFF adds that they system factors in the difficulty of the assignment, the situation at hand, and other variables.

Through three games, out of all cornerbacks who have played at least 25 snaps up to this point, Moore is currently ranked eighth in this advanced metric. At the top of the list is Buffalo’s Christian Benford, Baltimore’s Marlon Humphrey, and Kansas City’s Trent McDuffie.

On the season, Moore has allowed 11 completions on 16 targets, but held pass-catchers to just 7.8 yards per catch with two pass breakups.

Moore’s performance this past Sunday against Chicago was particularly impressive. The Bears passing game targeted Moore often, throwing his way 10 times. However, Moore allowed only five completions and 19 total yards with a pass breakup. He also recorded a sack as well.

Moore has mostly played from the slot but does move to the boundary when the Colts are lined up in their base 4-3 defense.

For a position group that, overall, is still facing unknowns about their play as well as concerns about the depth, Moore playing at a high level is a must for this secondary.

Ahead of the Colts’ Week 4 matchup with Pittsburgh, Moore is on the injury report after exiting last week’s game with a hip injury. He did not practice on Wednesday or Thursday.

The Indianapolis Colts were back at practice on Wednesday as they begin preparing for their Week 4 matchup with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Before practice began, head coach Shane Steichen met with reporters and said that cornerback Kenny Moore would not be practicing on Wednesday, according to the Indy Star’s Joel Erickson.

The Colts will see how Moore progresses throughout the week before making a decision on his status for Sunday’s game.

Also not practicing on Wednesday was defensive end Kwity Paye.

Late in Sunday’s win over the Chicago Bears, Moore exited with a hip injury. No further updates have been provided at this time.

Moore had an excellent performance in that game. In coverage, he was targeted heavily, but allowed only five completions on those 10 targets and held the Chicago pass-catchers to just 19 total yards. Moore also recorded a pass breakup and a sack, according to PFF.

The opponent this week, the Steelers, are a run-heavy team, ranking second currently in rush attempts per game and 27th in pass attempts per game.

The nickel cornerback already plays an important role in run defense, but this week, that ability may be at a premium. When the Colts are in their base 4-3 defense, Moore moves to the boundary cornerback position opposite of Jaylon Jones.

The Colts are already thin at the cornerback position. Chris Lammons and Sam Womack are backup options at the nickel position for the Colts.