Blue
Well-known member
- Mar 19, 2019
- 2,079
- 0
INDIANAPOLIS — Two key offensive playmakers, both of whom are recovering from fractured right hands, were on the practice field for the Indianapolis Colts on Wednesday.
That’s notable especially for running back Marlon Mack, who on Wednesday was participating in his first on-field work since suffering his injury in the second half of the Colts’ Week 11 game against the Jacksonville Jaguars just 17 days ago.
Wide receiver Parris Campbell, meanwhile, is kicking off his second straight week of practice after fracturing his hand late in the Colts’ Week 9 matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Nov. 3.
As for Mack, the Colts’ top running back, is there a chance he could play Sunday, when the team travels to take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 14 action?
“There’s a chance, yes,” head coach Frank Reich told reporters today.
Mack, who was one of the league’s leading rushers at the time of his injury, suffered his injury in the third quarter of the Colts’ victory over the Jaguars on Nov. 17. He stands just 138 rushing yards shy of his first-career 1,000-yard season.
The Colts have turned to Jonathan Williams — who has two 100-yard rushing performances the past three games — as well as Nyheim Hines and Jordan Wilkins at running back with Mack out of the lineup against the Houston Texans and the Tennessee Titans.
Campbell, meanwhile, sat out his fourth straight game last Sunday against the Titans. He was a limited participant in all three practices last week and had a shot at playing, but the team ultimately decided to put him on the inactives list for at least one more week.
Campbell was a full participant during Wednesday's practice.
“I was hoping he was going to get there last week and we didn’t quite get there,” Reich said of Campbell on Monday. “So that would make you believe that there is a pretty good chance this week. We’ve said this many times, until you actually get out there and practice – especially like we said for a younger guy, we need to see it all three days out there. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday that he is ready physically and mentally to go and hopefully he is but it is too early to tell.”
Campbell, the Colts’ 2019 second-round pick out of Ohio State, has missed a combined six games this season with various injuries. He had 15 receptions for 115 yards and a touchdown, as well as four rushing attempts for 34 yards, on the year.
Campbell’s potential return could provide a much-needed shot in the arm to a banged-up Colts wide receiver corps, which was down to three active players last Sunday against the Titans after Chester Rogers went down with a knee injury; Rogers has since been placed on injured reserve. In a corresponding move, the team elevated wide receiver Chad Williams to the active roster from the practice squad.