Colts’ Jonathan Taylor not considered an IR candidate

Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor is undergoing surgery to repair an injury to his right thumb Wednesday, but he is not considered a candidate for the Reserve/Injured list.

Head coach Shane Steichen spoke to the media Wednesday and confirmed the injury while also explaining why the team decided Taylor needed to go through with a procedure.

Steichen: IR not being considered at this point for JT. Irsay mentioned a 2-3 week recovery.

— Mike Chappell (@mchappell51) November 29, 2023

Even though Taylor kept his typical role during the Week 12 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, which is when the injury occurred, Steichen told the media that the injury would have made Taylor a liability.

From a ball security and pass protection standpoint, the Colts determined that Taylor’s hand would have been a liability if he’d played through it.

— Joel A. Erickson (@JoelAErickson) November 29, 2023

With Taylor on the mend for at least the next few weeks, the Colts will once again lean on Zack Moss to carry the load as he did earlier in the season when Taylor was on the PUP list.

It seems unlikely the Colts will make much of a move at the position outside of adding a practice squad player to the active roster. We should expect Moss to see a similar workload to what he saw during the first half of the season.

Behind Moss will be Trey Sermon as the backup.