Blue
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- Mar 19, 2019
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About that injury report…
All told, not counting Buckner's absence, the Colts on Wednesday had 13 players on their injury report.
Nine players on Wednesday's injury report did not practice, and all of them play a major role for the team on offense, defense and/or special teams.
On offense, center Ryan Kelly (neck), left guard Quenton Nelson (back/ankle), wide receiver Zach Pascal (knee/foot) and quarterback Philip Rivers (toe) did not practice. On defense, safety Julian Blackmon (illness), Justin Houston (not injury related), linebacker Bobby Okereke (ankle), safety Khari Willis (ribs/shoulder) and cornerback Rock Ya-Sin (illness) did not participate. Isaiah Rodgers, the Colts' top kick returner, was also held out for the same knee injury that prevented him from playing last Sunday against the Packers.
The Colts aren't scheduled to practice Thursday to give their players a chance to observe the Thanksgiving holiday; while there could be an estimated injury report released by the team for Thursday, the next we'll hear from Reich will be Friday, when he usually announces who's been ruled out of the upcoming game.
When it comes to Rivers, Reich said the veteran signal caller likely could've practiced Wednesday in a limited capacity, but watched from the sidelines out of an abundance of caution.
The 38-year-old Rivers has the NFL's longest active starting streak in the NFL at 231 games — 242 if you count the postseason.
Rivers told reporters Wednesday he feels "pretty good," but understands the cautious approach the team is taking with his toe injury; he said he expects to be brought back into the mix on Friday.
"I think I definitely could have gone today. I think it's a little bit of – probably the smart thing to do, then me getting better at my stubbornness as well. I think it's the best approach," Rivers said. "Obviously, with our schedule this week, having tomorrow off for Thanksgiving, just a couple more days of rest and be ready to be out there on Friday."
Rivers said he suffered the injury early in the third quarter of last Sunday's win against the Packers on a reverse play to wide receiver DeMichael Harris, as the quarterback, an eager blocker on the play, laid into outside linebacker Za'Darius Smith.
Rivers ended up missing a couple snaps in the second half but was able to finish the game; he completed 24-of-36 passes for 288 yards with three touchdowns to one interception in the Colts' 34-31 overtime win.