Colts, Steelers Injury Report: Optimism for Key Defenders to Return
The Indianapolis Colts are trying to pick themselves up after a deflating loss last Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals, but they got some optimistic news on Tuesday heading into their big Week 15 matchup this Saturday against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Rookie starting cornerback JuJu Brents has missed the last six games (seven weeks) with a quad injury, but he opened up the week as a full participant on Tuesday after finally returning to practice last week. That's a good sign toward his availability this weekend.
The Colts' injury report in general is a bit of a mixed bag, however, as two offensive starters and key pieces to the run game in running back Jonathan Taylor and right tackle Braden Smith were non-participants.
The Colts held a walkthrough on Tuesday rather than a practice after having just played on Sunday and now playing against on a short week (Saturday) this week.
Here are the official injury reports for the Colts and Steelers from Tuesday.
COLTS
TUESDAY
- Did Not Participate – OT Braden Smith (knee), RB Jonathan Taylor (thumb)
- Limited Participant – CB Jaylon Jones (ankle)
- Full Participant – CB JuJu Brents (quad), DT DeForest Buckner (back), TE Will Mallory (rib), LB E.J. Speed (knee)
Smith missed Sunday's game against the Bengals and was replaced in the lineup by rookie Blake Freeland, who has started seven games this season.
Taylor missed his second consecutive game on Sunday after suffering a thumb injury in Week 12 that required surgery. Colts head coach Shane Steichen expressed optimism that Taylor will be back this season, saying, “That’s the plan, yeah.”
Zack Moss has replaced Taylor in the lineup but has been unable to duplicate the level of success he had earlier in the year when teams weren't keying in on him as much.
Brents and Speed are names to keep an eye on for the next couple of days as Brents has been out a prolonged time and Speed was forced to miss last Sunday's matchup.
STEELERS
TUESDAY
- Did Not Participate – RB Najee Harris (knee), QB Kenny Pickett (ankle), OLB Elandon Roberts (groin), G Isaac Seumalo (shoulder)
- Limited Participant – DT Keeanu Benton (oblique), DT Cameron Heyward (groin), LB Alex Highsmith (concussion), S Damontae Kazee (ankle), OLB T.J. Watt (concussion)
- Full Participant – CB James Pierre (shoulder)
The Steelers are quite banged up near the top of their roster, including starting edges Watt and Highsmith (20.0 combined sacks in 2023), who are both working their way through the concussion protocol as limited participants. Fellow defensive starting linebacker Roberts was a non-participant on Tuesday.
On the offensive side of the ball, starting quarterback Pickett, starting running back Harris, and left guard Seumalo all sat out. Pickett has already been ruled out and will be replaced in the starting lineup by Mitchell Trubisky.
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