Colts Downgrade 3 Players Ahead of Monday Night Football

The Indianapolis Colts downgraded the injury status for three starters ahead of their Monday Night Football matchup with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Indianapolis Colts looked like their health was turning a corner for the better ahead of their Monday Night Football matchup with the Pittsburgh Steelers, but they then downgraded the injury status of three starters on Sunday afternoon.

Linebacker Zaire Franklin (illness) has been re-added to the injury report and is now questionable, tight end Kylen Granson (illness) has been downgraded from questionable to doubtful, and defensive end Kwity Paye (ankle) has gone from questionable to out.

Throughout the week, critical players have popped up on the injury report as an illness continues to work its way through the roster. However, as interim head coach Jeff Saturday addressed reporters this weekend, he stated that they were not yet ruling any players out, instead listing Granson, Paye, and starting defensive linemen DeForest Buckner and Yannick Ngakoue as questionable.

If Franklin is unable to play, it would make sense for WILL linebacker Bobby Okereke to take over at MIKE for Franklin while E.J. Speed slides over to WILL from SAM, and either JoJo Domann or Grant Stuard steps in to play SAM.

If Granson can't play, the Colts are getting rookie tight end Jelani Woods back in time. In the episode of the Locked On Colts podcast embedded below, we discuss with Josh Carney of Steelers Depot how the Colts' tight ends could have a big performance against the Steelers.

With Paye out and Buckner and Ngakoue questionable, expect to see more of Dayo Odeyingbo, Ifeadi Odenigbo, Byron Cowart, and Eric Johnson against Pittsburgh.

The Colts host the Steelers this Monday at Lucas Oil Stadium at 8:15pm ET.

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