Colts release P Ryan Allen from the practice squad

Colts part ways with Ryan Allen.

The Indianapolis Colts released punter Ryan Allen from the practice squad, the team announced Monday.

This comes as no surprise given that Allen was a temporary replacement for Rigoberto Sanchez, who underwent surgery to remove a cancerous tumor on Dec. 1. But Sanchez returned quickly and resumed his typical kickoff and punting duties in the Week 15 matchup against the Houston Texans.

As Sanchez’s prognosis is very optimistic, the Colts didn’t feel the need to keep an extra punter on the practice squad,

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Colts place P Ryan Allen on the protected practice squad

Ryan Allen again gets protected.

The Indianapolis Colts placed punter Ryan Allen on the protected practice squad, per the league’s transaction wire.

This is the second time in as many weeks that the Colts have placed Allen on the protected list. Even though Rigoberto Sanchez is still on the active roster, he hasn’t been able to practice lately, and the Colts have been keeping Allen on the practice squad while calling him up before gameday.

However, they may not have to do that much longer. There is a chance Sanchez returns to practice this week—that’s the Colts’ hope at least—despite undergoing surgery to remove a cancerous tumor at the beginning of the month.

It isn’t clear if Sanchez will be able to play on Sunday against the Houston Texans and in the event he doesn’t, the Colts want to feel protected with Allen in order to avoid being without a punter on Sunday.

Colts elevate P Ryan Allen, C Joey Hunt to active roster for Week 14

The Indianapolis Colts elevated P Ryan Allen and C Joey Hunt to the active roster for the Week 14 game against the Las Vegas Raiders.

The Indianapolis Colts elevated punter Ryan Allen and center Joey Hunt from the practice squad to the active roster ahead of the Week 14 game against the Las Vegas Raiders, the team announced Saturday.

Allen was placed on the protected practice squad this week as the replacement for Rigoberto Sanchez, who continues to work through his recovery from a cancerous tumor that was removed a few weeks ago.

Hunt has been a regular call-up for the Colts serving as offensive line depth. The Colts also signed offensive tackle Will Holden from the Baltimore Ravens practice squad this week in light of Le’Raven Clark’s torn Achilles.

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Colts place P Ryan Allen on protected practice squad

Ryan Allen goes on the protected practice squad.

The Indianapolis Colts placed punter Ryan Allen on the protected practice squad, per the league’s transaction wire.

Filling in for regular punter Rigoberto Sanchez, who is recovering from surgery to remove a cancerous tumor, Allen made his debut with the Colts during the team’s 26-20 win over the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium.

In the Week 13 win, Allen had five punts averaging 47 yards per attempt. He had one touchback and one punt downed inside the 20-yard line.

With Allen on the protected practice squad, teams are not allowed to poach him throughout the week. Once Monday following the game against the Raiders comes around, teams will have a window to sign him if they please.

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6 Colts to watch vs. Texans in Week 13

Keep an eye on these Colts on Sunday.

The Indianapolis Colts (7-4) are heading south for a crucial divisional matchup against the Houston Texans (4-7) on Sunday at NRG Stadium.

As Indy enters this matchup as 3.5-point road favorites, the Colts Wire staff sees this being a win for the visitors in our predictions for the game. The Texans should put up a good fight despite their record as they try to spoil the Colts’ chances to make a playoff run.

Here are six Colts to watch in the Week 13 matchup on Sunday:

Colts elevate P Ryan Allen, C Joey Hunt to active roster

Colts make some moves before Sunday’s game.

The Indianapolis Colts elevated punter Ryan Allen and center Joey Hunt from the practice squad to the active roster, the team announced Saturday.

Allen will be the temporary replacement for Rigoberto Sanchez, who underwent surgery Tuesday to remove a cancerous tumor. His timetable for return isn’t clear yet.

With Anthony Castonzo ruled out, Hunt has been elevated for the third consecutive week as a depth piece.

The Colts also announced that tight end Noah Togiai is being placed on the injured reserve list. He is questionable on the injury report due to a knee injury. However, he will be sidelined for at least three weeks and eligible to return in Week 16.

Why the Colts signed Ryan Allen to replace Rigoberto Sanchez

Frank Reich talks what he sees in Ryan Allen.

The Indianapolis Colts had to find a new punter after it was revealed that Rigoberto Sanchez was to undergo surgery to remove a cancerous tumor this week. This led to the Colts signing veteran Ryan Allen to the practice squad.

Fortunately, the prognosis with Sanchez is “very positive” as head coach Frank Reich put it this week. But the Colts still need a temporary replacement at punter until Sanchez can come back.

So they signed the veteran Allen, and Reich gave a bit of an explanation as to what they saw in him. Part of it has to do with his holding ability.

“He’s a real good holder, just having a chance to watch him up close today get a number of holds. He looked really good,” Reich said Friday. “Obviously, he’s held a bunch so – there is still that little bit of at the beginning of the week or when he first gets here, get with Rod (Rodrigo Blankenship), get the particulars for how Rod likes the ball placed, get a feel for Rod’s pre-snap routine so to speak – so the timing and the rhythm and everything feels good. Real smart guy, just came in like a pro and I think we’re all systems go.”

It isn’t clear how long the Colts will be without Sanchez. As of this writing, he’s still on the active roster. But he could be loved to the Non-Football Injury (NFI) list if they wanted to make room for Allen for the remainder of the season.

But that remains to be seen. Instead, the Colts will be rolling with the veteran punter as Indy looks to make a playoff push with five games remaining.

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Colts sign P Ryan Allen to the practice squad

The Colts found their temporary replacement for Rigo.

The Indianapolis Colts signed punter Ryan Allen to the practice squad, the team announced Thursday.

As the temporary replacement for Rigoberto Sanchez, the Colts will be going with the veteran Allen, who has spent the majority of his career with the New England Patriots.

Allen signed with the Patriots as an undrafted free agent following the 2013 NFL draft and was their punter through the 2018 season. He also spent time on the Titans practice squad in 2020 while seeing time in one game this season.

Allen is filling in for Sanchez, who underwent successful surgery to remove a cancerous tumor. The Colts haven’t given a timetable for Sanchez’s return as that’s the least of the worries right now.

The Colts got a veteran replacement for Sanchez as they look to make a run down the home stretch of the season.

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Titans make yet another puzzling decision at punter

The Titans are making all the wrong moves at punter lately.

The Tennessee Titans are promoting Trevor Daniel to the team’s 53-man roster and adding Ryan Allen to the practice squad — and yes, you read that correctly.

Daniel got the nod in Week 10 over Allen, which at the time didn’t make much sense considering Allen was brilliant in place of Brett Kern in Week 9 when he averaged 50.5 yards per punt.

The move proved to be disastrous, as Daniel rewarded the Titans by shanking one punt, and he had another blocked. Both plays led to Indianapolis Colts touchdowns and were instrumental in the Titans’ meltdown.

Just a few days ago, these two punters’ roles were reversed, as Allen was on the active roster and Daniel was on the practice squad, which is the way it should have remained, with Allen getting the nod in Week 11.

Instead, Daniel, who was a major cause of the Titans’ Week 10 loss to the Colts, has been promoted, while Allen, who actually had success in live game action in Week 9, was released and ends up on the practice squad.

When asked about the inexplicable decision to start Daniel over Allen last week, head coach Mike Vrabel pointed to the former’s success in practice as being the reason.

After this recent move that seems to indicate Daniel will get the start once again, it’s clear he must be the greatest practice punter of all time.

You simply can’t make up the lack of logic in the Titans’ recent moves at the position, whether you want to talk about replacing Allen with Daniel for Week 10, or shuffling the two on the roster.

Titans’ Mike Vrabel addresses current punter situation

Head coach Mike Vrabel shared his thoughts on the Titans’ current situation at punter.

Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel addressed the situation at punter on Wednesday in the wake of Trevor Daniel’s disastrous Week 10 performance and the team’s decision to release Ryan Allen on Tuesday.

Daniel was inexplicably inserted into the starting role last Thursday night in place of Allen after the latter was excellent in Week 9 against the Chicago Bears.

Vrabel’s reasoning for making the move? Daniel out-performed Allen in practice during the week.

The move proved to be a blunder, as Daniel went on to shank one punt, and had another one blocked, which wasn’t his fault. Still, the shank gave the Colts great field position for one of their scores.

Despite Daniel’s struggles, Vrabel expressed confidence in the punter, per Erik Bacharach of the Tennessean:

“One punt is not going to define Trevor. We believe in him,” Vrabel said.

As far as Allen is concerned, Vrabel said the team could look to add him to the practice squad, which we would assume could lead to a punter competition during the week.

However, as we discovered last week, the player who performs better in practice isn’t always the best choice. Allen’s success in actual game action should have made this a no-brainer from the start.

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