Indianapolis Colts: Elite 4-Time Pro Bowler Has His Practice Window Opened This Week

The 6-7 Indianapolis Colts, who are coming off a BYE, will travel to Denver, Colorado, to face off against the 8-5 Denver Broncos at Empower Field at Mile High on Sunday afternoon for their 14th regular season game. With a win over the Broncos, the Colts, who currently sit in 8th place in the AFC Playoff Picture, would see their playoff hopes jump from 26% to 56%, while a loss would drop them to an 8% chance. For them to make the playoffs, they cannot afford any more injuries to their offensive line.

The Indianapolis Colts Pro Bowl IOL has battled an injury for a while

Colts’ elite Pro Bowl center Ryan Kelly has battled a calf and knee injury for quite a while, also missing Weeks 4 and 5 with a neck injury. After playing every snap in Week 9 against the Minnesota Vikings, the Colts placed Kelly on injured reserve ahead of Week 10. Since then, he missed five weeks and four games (Weeks 10-13). They went 2-2 in their last four games and 3-3 overall with him out of the starting lineup this season.

Rookie fourth-round pick Tanor Bortolini replaced him at center from Weeks 4-5 and Weeks 10-12. Bortolini did not play in Week 13 due to a concussion, and Danny Pinter took over in the starting lineup.

He is inching closer to a return

On X, the Indianapolis Colts announced they designated Ryan Kelly and Jaylon Carlies for a return from injured reserve, effectively opening their practice windows in the process. Both players have 21 days to practice before being activated to the active roster, or else they revert to season-ending injured reserve. The expectation is for both players to practice this week, which is an exciting development.

Per Coach Steichen, Ryan Kelly and Jaylon Carlies have been designated to return to practice. pic.twitter.com/OXdyFqn5ra

— Indianapolis Colts (@Colts) December 11, 2024

We will update you regarding his availability for Week 15 once we have more information

For More Great Gridiron Heroics Content:

Follow me on X @JacksonLoschko and follow us @GridironHeroics for more great content. If you have any questions, you can message me on Linkedin. To read more of our articles and keep up to date on the latest in NFL and College Football, click here.

Thank you for reading my articles. It is greatly appreciated.