Report: Colts RB Jonathan Taylor will undergo thumb surgery and miss at least a few weeks

Colts running back Jonathan Taylor is reportedly headed to Los Angeles to undergo thumb surgery and will miss at least two to three weeks of action.

According to The Athletic’s James Boyd, Indianapolis Colts star running back will undergo thumb surgery performed by Los Angeles based surgeon Steven S. Shin, and the hope is that he’ll be able to return after two to three weeks of recovery:

“Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor will undergo thumb surgery Wednesday in Los Angeles with the hope that he can return in 2-3 weeks, team owner Jim Irsay told The Athletic,” Boyd writes.

While losing Taylor will no doubt be a major blow during his short-term absence, as he remains the Colts’ best offensive weapon and is a true workhorse in the ground game, Indianapolis should be in pretty good hands during the interim period with top backup Zack Moss taking over starting duties again.

Despite seeing a more limited backfield role in recent weeks, with Taylor assuming increasing bellcow touches again, Moss, who’s had a breakout campaign, has 141 carries for a career-high 672 rushing yards (4.8 ypc. avg.) and 5 rushing touchdowns during 10 games.

In fact, even with that diminished role, Moss currently still ranks Top 10 in the league in total rushing yards.

Moss just saw 8 carries last week, rushing for 55 yards (6.9 ypc. avg.) in a Sunday home win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Even though Moss lacks some of the explosive, top-end speed of Taylor, he shows good vision, patience, and is able to get all the yards that are there—while still grinding out more when needed.

This injury is quite different than the ankle injury that plagued Taylor last season and lingered into this past offseason and even the start of the regular season—with the former All-Pro having been placed on PUP (*and missing four games) to begin the year.

It appears that this injury has a much shorter recovery timeframe—if all goes according to plan, and Taylor should hopefully be back for the season’s final stretch of games. Of course, unlike last season at this time, the Colts are actually playing meaningful football games in the thick of the AFC playoff hunt as a current wild card team right now.

Moss should be able to more than hold down the fort until Taylor can rejoin his teammates.