Tag: shaquille leonard

No decision yet on potential PUP list for Shaquille Leonard

No decision has been made on Shaquille Leonard’s potential trip to the PUP list.

The Indianapolis Colts have several decisions to make over the next few days as they cut the roster down to 53 players to prepare for the start of the regular season.

One of the big questions that surrounds the Colts going into Tuesday’s major cutdown day is what the team will do with linebacker Shaquille Leonard, who missed all of training camp and the preseason as he works his way back from offseason back surgery.

While the hope is that Leonard will suit up for the Week 1 opener, there’s a chance his rehab extends into the season. If that’s the case, the Colts may consider transferring Leonard to the reserve/PUP list, which would automatically keep him out through the first four games.

Head coach Frank Reich told reporters Sunday that no decision has been made on that front yet.

“No decision at this point,” said Reich. “I don’t think he could’ve done one ounce more or one thing more any better to prepare himself to have the quickest comeback that he can have. Now, it’s just a question of when he can get cleared, to get off of PUP and get back on the practice field.”

Reich mentioned they might be able to project how many days Leonard will be out until his return, but opted against doing so. They’ve kept all of this pretty close to the vest throughout the entire process ever since Leonard had surgery this offseason.

The Maniac is expected to return at some point during the early part of the season. Whether that includes a trip to the reserve/PUP list may not be answered until after the roster cuts have been finalized Tuesday.

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5 Colts ranked in NFL’s top 100 players list for 2022

Here are the five Colts players who ranked on the NFL’s top 100 players list for 2022.

The Indianapolis Colts had five players ranked on the NFL’s top 100 player list for the 2022 season.

While there are certainly some questionable rankings and omissions throughout the list, Colts fans may find it difficult to argue with much of the rankings when it comes to players on their favorite team.

Maybe some players on the list should be ranked a little higher. Maybe some players omitted from the list should have snuck on there.

Here’s a look at the five Colts who were ranked on the NFL’s top 100 players list for 2022:

Colts’ Shaquille Leonard ranked No. 18 on NFL’s top 100 list

The Maniac checked in at No. 18.

Indianapolis Colts linebacker Shaquille Leonard ranked at No. 18 on the NFL’s top 100 players for 2022 list.

The Maniac has been a force in the middle of the Colts defense ever since they used the No. 36 overall pick on him in the 2018 NFL draft. Leonard has accumulated three Pro Bowl and First-Team All-Pro nods through his four seasons.

And despite dealing with a nagging ankle injury in 2021, Leonard was still named to his second consecutive First-Team All-Pro selection.

Now, he came in at No. 18 on the top 100 players list.

Much of this list is comprised on what players did during the previous season, and Leonard’s production was as strong as its ever been. He led the NFL with eight forced fumbles while being tied for the most interceptions among linebackers with four.

Leonard is currently working his way back from offseason back surgery, but the Colts are hopeful he will be able to return at some point in the next month.

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The NFL has announced its top 20 players for 2022. Here’s how it should look.

The NFL has announced its list of the top 20 players in the league — in alphabetical order. Here’s how it should go numerically.

Every year, the NFL polls players to rank other players, and from that, there’s the league’s list of the top 100 players. It’s always a controversial list, and there are a lot of questions regarding how much the players actually are involved, but any subjective ranking in any endeavor is going to annoy more people than not. That’s just the way things go.

This year, the NFL has already announced its top players from 100-21, and we’ve already expressed our own issues with the bottom of that list.

The final list of players 20-1 will be shown on the NFL Network on Sunday, August 28, in a three-hour show starting at 8:00 p.m. EST. And just to whet your appetite for that, the NFL has announced the 20 best players in alphabetical order.

Based on our own list of the NFL’s 101 best players (which Mark Schofield and myself split into two parts here and here), here’s how we think the NFL’s top 20 players should look in numerical order.

Colts have no plans to place Shaquille Leonard on PUP list

There currently aren’t any plans to put Shaquille Leonard on the reserve/PUP list.

The Indianapolis Colts don’t currently have any plans to place linebacker Shaquille Leonard on the PUP list to begin the season, but head coach Frank Reich still acknowledged that move is a possibility.

Leonard hasn’t practiced at all through training camp and the preseason as he recovers from offseason back surgery. He’s currently residing on the Active/PUP list, which means he’s still on the active roster in a technical sense.

If the Colts were to put Leonard on the reserve/PUP list, an option that is now available to them, he would automatically miss the first four games of the season and would not be able to practice until that time has passed.

So when asked if Leonard is a candidate for the reserve/PUP list, Reich noted the team doesn’t want to go that route even if the All-Pro isn’t truly ready to play in games.

“From our standpoint, we really want to get him back out there when he’s cleared. But even if he’s not ready to play, get him out there. And you can’t get out there if you’re on PUP. You can’t participate in anything,” Reich said Tuesday. “So we want to get (Shaquille Leonard) participating, so at some point, even if he’s not ready to play, we have to get him off PUP and get him taking reps even if it takes however many weeks it’s going to take to get him ready.”

It still isn’t clear when Leonard will be back but if he’s not going on the PUP list, we should assume he’s going to be ready within the first four games of the season.

We’ll see how this all plays out, but there’s a growing chance the Colts are without Leonard for their Week 1 season opener against the Houston Texans.

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Colts ‘hopeful and optimistic’ Shaquille Leonard is ready Week 1

The Colts are hoping for the best but preparing for the worst when it comes to Shaquille Leonard’s Week 1 status.

The Indianapolis Colts haven’t given much information in the way of Shaquille Leonard’s status for the Week 1 regular-season opener against the Houston Texans.

The updates every week are more of the same and until Leonard gets back on the field to practice, it’s difficult to gauge what his timeline for return truly looks like.

Head coach Frank Reich told reporters Thursday that the team is hoping for the best but preparing for the worst in terms of Leonard’s situation.

“I’m hopeful and optimistic that he’s ready but you’re preparing as if he’s not going to be ready,” Reich said Thursday. “You prepare for the worst-case scenario.”

It still remains to be seen when Leonard will return to practice. He opened training camp on the PUP list after undergoing surgery on his back in June to correct a nerve issue that was causing pain in his calf and ankle.

Reich mentioned Leonard doing a lot of extra work to get on the field sooner, but it’s still a wait-and-see situation,

“He’s doing a lot of extra work and he’s getting his mind right ready to play. That’s exactly what needs to happen,” Reich said. “He’s got his mind ready to play. The players got to think he’s playing as soon as he can.”

In terms of how much practice Leonard needs before the Colts feel comfortable putting him in game action, Reich said it likely depends on how the final weeks of training camp go.

“I mean, every player is different. I think it’s going to depend on what it looks like those last couple of weeks before he gets on the field,” Reich said. “How much activity is he doing out here, what exactly is he doing, how much contact is there – some sled work, pad work, conditioning. The whole thing. So, we’ll kind of gauge it by that.”

It’s still a wait-and-see situation with The Maniac’s status and we likely won’t get much more information until he gets back on the field for practice.

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Shaquille Leonard’s status for Week 1 still unclear

The Maniac’s status for Week 1 is still unclear.

Indianapolis Colts linebacker Shaquille Leonard is working his way back from offseason back surgery, and the team has shied away from giving a timetable for his return.

This has been known all along since it was first revealed that Leonard underwent surgery during the spring, and while nothing has changed in terms of setbacks with his recovery, the All-Pro linebacker’s status for Week 1 against the Houston Texans is in question.

In an update from ESPN’s Stephen Holder, Leonard isn’t ruled out for the season opener, but his status is to be determined.

What Holder clarified, according to his report, is that the issue is resolved. It’s just a matter of getting Leonard back to the necessary strength levels.

Some clarity on the status of Colts All-Pro LB Shaquille Leonard: The team isn’t putting a timetable on his return from surgery because, currently, the issue centers on him rebuilding overall strength and strength in his calf, specifically, after an inactive spring and summer. The key thing to know: This is normal based on the team’s expectations. From all indications, the problem is solved, which is what matters most. His status for Week 1 cannot yet be determined, but don’t rule him out.

Leonard wound up having discs in his back impinge on a nerve that cause some ankle and calf issues during the offseason. It’s why he wasn’t a participant for much of the spring, and it was the cause of plenty of discomfort during the 2021 regular season.

The Colts have been rolling with Zaire Franklin as the replacement for Leonard through the first two weeks of training camp next to starter Bobby Okereke.

Leonard might be one of the few players the Colts would feel comfortable going through the preseason without playing a game, but this is still a wait-and-see situation.

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Nothing imminent on Shaquille Leonard’s return

Not much of an update on Shaquille Leonard’s timetable for return.

The Indianapolis Colts have gotten into the full swing of training camp as they prepare for the start of the regular season, and they’ve been doing so without star linebacker Shaquille Leonard.

The Maniac underwent back surgery this offseason to correct a disc/nerve issue that also was causing issues with his calf and ankle. He started training camp on the PUP list and has remained there since.

Head coach Frank Reich told reporters Wednesday that nothing is imminent with his return.

“No, I mean he is doing great. He has really been into it out on the field, staying locked into what we are doing schematically. Really staying in tune with the team and the guys and everything, and I know he is continuing good rehab – having progress but we are still not in that mode. I don’t think it is imminent, but I think he is making progress,” Reich said Tuesday.

The Colts initially believed Leonard would be ready for the start of the regular season and while that’s still a possibility, it’s difficult to keep the questions away about whether he’ll be available.

Leonard is the heart of the defense so the Colts won’t want to rush him back, but they’ll need the Maniac if the unit is going to take a step forward in 2022.

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10 takeaways from Day 5 of Colts training camp

Here are 10 takeaways from Day 5 of Colts camp.

The Indianapolis Colts were back on the field Wednesday for their fifth practice of training camp at the Grand Park Sports Campus in Westfield.

After starting off the second week of camp with pads on Tuesday, the Colts took it a bit lighter on the physicality, opting to go with just the shells and shorts on Wednesday.

There were plenty of fireworks from the fifth practice of camp, including the first bout of fisticuffs between Michael Pittman Jr. and Rodney McLeod. We put together a quick roundup of the practice as well.

Here are 10 takeaways from Day 5 of Colts training camp:

 

The 8 most important Colts on defense

Here are the 8 most important Colts players on defense.

The Indianapolis Colts are just getting out of their first week of training camp and it is about to start getting tenser when the pads are on.

The next few weeks will be a learning experience as the defense looks to adapt to the new system under Gus Bradley. The unit has what it takes to be a championship-level defense but their success hinges on their key players staying healthy.

Earlier, we took a look at the eight most important players on the offensive side of the ball.

Here are eight of the most important pieces for the Colts’ defense this season: