Report: Colts RB Jonathan Taylor has thumb injury, ‘status in doubt’ going forward

According to noted NFL Insider Ian Rappoport, Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor suffered a thumb injury during Sunday’s win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers:

The injury apparently occurred sometime during the first half of the game, but Taylor was able to play through it and ended up having an effective day on the ground, rushing for 91 yards and two touchdowns. Rappoport says the thumb is undergoing evaluation, but that the thought is that it could potentially cause Taylor to miss some time.

Obviously, Taylor is a huge part of the Indianapolis offense, so any time he misses would be a big loss for the team as they mount an unanticipated playoff push that seemed very unlikely as recently as a couple of weeks ago.

Luckily for the team, they still have running back Zack Moss, who also had a decent game on Sunday against a very good Tampa Bay run defense. Moss had eight carries for 55 yards and also added two catches for 15 yards. While Moss’s usage has declined in recent weeks, it’s mostly coincided with Taylor’s return to prominence after he missed the first four games of the season while embroiled in a contract dispute.

While Taylor was away, Moss established himself as a very capable lead back for the team, amassing 445 rushing yards over the first five weeks of the season, despite missing the first game with an injury. If Taylor has to miss a significant amount of time, the Colts are still in good hands with Moss taking over the lead role.