Indianapolis Colts' JuJu Brents Out for Season, but Josh Downs Back at Practice!

it's only the second week of the season and we're already having to talk about Colts injuries one of them being season ending let's get to it you are locked on Colts your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team everyday all right thanks for tuning in and making us your first listen of the day this is your daily podcast covering your Indianapolis Colts part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day and Today's Show is brought to you by FanDuel now through September 22nd all FanDuel customers can bet $5 and get a three-week free trial of NFL Sunday Ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV visit fing.com to get started what is up everybody this is Jay Arthur from horses huddle.com and I am talking to you today about injuries uh we didn't have a show yesterday took a little a little bit of a break uh from Zach and Ben's film session uh taking a break so we could kind of get started looking ahead to this week against the Packers and unfortunately that's got to start with some injuries so obviously the news broke yesterday that Juju Brent uh suffered a knee injury an MCL injury he landed on injured reserve he's going to be out for the entirety of the year so that is incredibly unfortunate um the Colts have already started to kind of make some moves to try and do what they can uh to kind of batten down the hatches for what this is going to mean for them uh so so far they added Chris lemons they elevated him from the practice squad up to the active roster you can expect him to be a main stay of the roster pretty much from now on throughout the year uh they also went the free agent route they grabbed Kelvin Joseph and added him to the practice squad they had worked him out recently I think last week or maybe the week before uh and then safety Ronnie Harrison who obviously everybody knows uh spent some time with the Colts since last year was a linebacker safety hybrid um was part of their offseason roster Cuts now finds his way back onto the practice squad so uh Brent on IR um obviously incredibly frustrating for him I know fans are frustrated as well but guys can't really control their injuries uh but the truth is I mean this is a guy who has dealt with injuries throughout his incredibly young career you can't even call it two seasons in the NFL yet cuz was just the beginning of his second season uh last year he came into the league with a wrist injury uh he dealt with a hamstring injury that cost him pretty much all of training camp uh Midway through the year he suffered a quad injury uh he missed eight games overall last year so essentially half of his rookie year due to injury um this year he had an ankle cleanup over the off season uh he missed a practice and a preseason game due to a little shoulder injury he had the broken nose uh that cost him a couple weeks of time uh and now he's got this knee injury so at a certain point I mean you just have to kind of accept the fact that there are are some players where whether you want to call it injury-prone or what have you um you cannot ignore that that unfortunately for Brent things just keep happening and you know this is just the unfortunate conclusion to a season that really has not gotten underway I mean he played last week of course and would have been a Difference Maker especially if he would have come down with that near interception uh but now you you find yourself at a position that was already pretty green lacking depth and you know everyone's been yelling about cornerback and safety throughout the entire offseason the Colts have been doubling down saying you know we like our guys this and that but this was always going to be such a huge gamble because the cornerbacks they were rolling with and the safeties they were rolling with the defensive back group alog together very young inexperienced a lot of people questioned whether some of them were even you know decent players in general I mean I think I think we like the players that are out there but certainly said they needed more they needed reinforcements uh but the guys especially at quarterback they invested in have had problems staying healthy especially Juju Bren and you look at a very comparable issue at safety with Julian Blackman uh so now the Colts find themselves without their top outside cornerback um and they're just going to have to go peace meal the rest of the way because there's really only a couple there was only a couple decent free agent Corners left out there outside corners guys who could maybe adequately replace um replace Juju Brent AA Witherspoon is another one that the Colts worked out recently was in the same group that when they worked out Kelvin Joseph but he just resigned with the Rams and he was pretty decent with the Rams last year so what they saw in Joseph over Witherspoon I don't know um because Joseph I mean we'll get to that in a minute but that's a guy who I don't even want to say unproven because what he has proven so far in the league is that he hasn't been very good so far um so this is kind of the bed that the Colts have made um now moving forward you're probably looking at Dallas flowers as your other starting outside corner so you're looking at Jaylen Jones and Dallas flowers with Kenny Moore and the nickel don't forget Dallas flowers was a healthy scratch last week uh kind of struggled in the preseason a little bit so a guy who you were not comfortable even playing last week whether it was because of numbers on special teams or you weren't confident he'd be ready against a passing attack like Houston whatever he was a healthy scratch and now you really need to rely on him you could say that with Samuel wilmack if that's the guy they go with at the outside opposite of Jones and more as well but wilmack just got here too he was he was a preseason waiver pickup so uh that's that's a guy who does not have a similar skill set to Brin uh Bren was tall and lengthy um not an Uber athlete but like Pretty good overall he he's not going to get outmatched a whole lot of the time um aggressive and physical and a very tackler with decent ball skills um again the biggest issue Brent's ever had with being a player was just is he even going to be available which obviously he's not this year um so you're looking at either Dallas flowers or Samuel wack there as your as your next man up um they do still have Kelvin Joseph like I mentioned David long is a veteran who's played before Jaylen Simpson the rookie and Amir speed they're all on the practice squad as well that's guys they could turn to but man I mean Joseph and long are both guys who they they picked up you know off the street I think long might have been a waiver pickup but they've bounced around the league quite a bit um Simpson is a guy who they didn't feel comfortable keeping on the roster so they waved him and then brought him back to the practice squad and then Amir speed played a little bit for them last year but he's a practice squad player as well so you better hope that the uh the pass rush is doing its job game in and game out they really can't afford to have very many uh lapses where they're just not being effective because this schedule throughout the season is not not forgiving like there's going to be some really tough matchups that they have against some really quality passing attacks so unfortunately Juju Brent's out for the year the guys they have to replace him we'll see how it goes um but yeah they they chose to kind of sit by and and invest in what they have and some of the guys they had struggled to stay healthy they were young this and that and we're just going to have to see how it plays out uh I I mean I'll gladly eat crow if it works out well for them but this was always going to be an enormous gamble that they took and it it's only week two and it it seems like it's maybe bit them a little bit so uh coming up next we're going to dive deeper into the injury report and what it means we'll look at the offensive side of the ball because there's actually some some optimism and the arrow pointing up in that direction uh but then we'll kind of round it out and revisit the defense again because there is a few names that uh popped up on the practice report that we have just got to talk about you've heard us talk a lot about FanDuel it's America's number one sports book well we have something a little different for you now through September 22nd all FanDuel customers can bet $5 and get a 3-week free trial of NFL Sunday Ticket tiet from YouTube and YouTube TV then with a YouTube TV base plan you can watch every regular season Sunday afternoon out of Market game all you need is a Google account and a current form of payment and you can cancel any time and if that's not enough be sure to check out fanduel's profit boost in the app and use it for fanduels double your winnings for all of Sunday September 15th pregame money line bets profit boost will be live starting again Thursday uh September 12th so view your account page now to learn more about your Boost the Colts are currently three and a half Point favorites in this one against the Green Bay Packers this Sunday on FanDuel and the point over under is just at 40 and a half so it's kind of enticing if you think the Colts offense is going to keep up that explosive element you may certainly want to look into uh going the over on the point total and then if you think Malik Willis over Jordan love is just going to be too overwhelming uh for the Colts defense not to take advantage of then shoot bet all the pros on the Colts there just visit fanduel.com download America's number one Sportsbook the new locked on NFL is here everybody if you haven't checked it out yet it is awesome lock on NFL is now two shows every day first you got the mad man Tyler Roland who kicks off your morning with a double shot of NFL espresso and then stop by the barber shop with Tony Wiggins for some real NFL Talk add in the locked on local experts and you get unprecedented NFL Insight hot opinions detailed breakdowns all in 30 minutes it's the new lock on NFL and it's twice a day make the madman Tyler Roland and the Barbera Tony Wiggins your second listen at the new lock on NFL on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts all right friends let's talk about offense uh so obviously there were a couple big question marks to the injury report throughout last week uh there never was any positive developments for them for the most part throughout the week uh but Josh DS obviously he uh he suffered his high ankle sprain at the beginning of August uh he was out pretty much the whole time he got back to doing like some side field work uh running full speed and and doing some cutting and things like that last week um but he never got back to practice in an official capacity uh he was a limited participant officially back on the practice field on Wednesday uh and then Matt gay who missed last week's game full go uh he was a full participant in practice so as of downs obviously with him out we've seen primarily ad Mitchell get a lot of those snaps we've seen Michael Pitman Jr and Alec Pierce out there obviously rookie Anthony gold has done some of the those things tried to do some of the things that Josh DS has done as well uh so it's been a group effort mostly ad Mitchell um but I think we've all been waiting for Josh DS to get back where you know you look at Anthony Richardson last week nine of 19 under 50% passing adding a guy like Jos Downs who is a quick winner he's a chain mover and has a really good report with Anthony Richardson really at all levels of the field I think that is the type of guy that's gonna help Anthony kind of smooth out some of the extreme Peaks and valleys you've got your awesome 60 yard shots for touchdowns and then you've got some short out routes that you know have no shot of getting to the receiver let's smooth out some of those extremes and be a little more consistent um Anthony's connection with Josh down certainly I think will will help with with that so ad Mitchell obviously that's a work in progress without him being out there constantly I I mean we're gonna see we're gonna see how fast-tracked the the development between Anthony and AD Mitchell gets to be because that's a thing where they're just going to have to have more time together obviously um you know there was a lot of targets there last week but they just clearly were not in sync um so obviously you've got a think ad Mitchell with Josh DS coming back whether it's this week or next week or whenever um he's probably the guy that sees the the dip in production but then he's probably going to eat into Alec Pierce's snaps a little bit as well so how they decide to divy up the snaps is going to be interesting but obviously we know Josh DS is like the slot receiver when he gets back so he uh he spoke to us in the locker room again today and he was kind of non-committal on whether or not he thinks he'll be back this week it's you know kind of you know Shane styken said we're just going to see how he runs and moves and cuts and everything throughout the week of practice and talk to him and see how he feels about it um Josh himself said he basically it's going to come down to just like cutting and being agile and moving around laterally and how he feels with that and when he can move around comfortably so for me if it's the beginning of the week and you're not totally gung-ho maybe it's beneficial to wait another week but I mean who knows maybe the week develops and it's he's practiced all three days of the week and he feels great afterwards and can give it a go um I'm kind of a guy who I it doesn't really hurt to wait another week especially this one with the Packers where it's not an easy matchup by any means but the Colts are rightfully favored in this one uh so they can maybe afford to have Josh sit another week and again the guys who filled in last week no one looked bad I I mean even down to Ashton duelan you got a nice 50- yard touchdown out of him Michael Pitman Jr is Michael Pitman Jr Alex Pier Alec Pierce had a a career day and AD Mitchell I thought played outstanding just didn't have a strong connection with Anthony Richardson so um until DS gets back I think they'll be fine um but it certainly looks like it's speeding up a little bit might be this week maybe not until next week we'll see uh but DS being on the practice field now is certainly a breath of fresh air for Richardson and the offense as a whole so that again they don't have to ride such a roller coaster like the passing game can maybe move a little smoother and there's some things some looks they can run and call that maybe they feel are a little more reliable so definitely looking up there Matt gay I think this is a polarizing one for a lot of people too because so he's obviously been a little shaky dating back to last year um he started to miss some kicks down the stretch he did look great during the preseason either and then after the the week with the Bengals had the joint practice and the the pre-season game uh they discovered that Matt gay had a hernia and they they did a procedure on it he didn't practice last week but he did he did do some kicking so they could at least see what they were working with he's now back in full and with his replacement Spencer shider on the practice squad I really don't think there's I mean I don't think there's any concern about him playing I mean they went down to the wire last week not rolling him out until the very end so it looks like there's a good chance gay could play I mean if you read too much between the lines today Shane styken said he's good to go but that was when he was asked about if Matt would practice so I don't know we'll we'll see gay could it it could be a formality that he's even on the pra or on the injury report anymore and that he's just no doubt going to play I know some people want Spencer St um I mean he filled in well last week with gay being out uh he hit all three extra point attempts that's something he you know even in college was always really good at extra points but when you get to the field goals that's when it's been super shaky uh he had his his field goal percentage in college was like I want to say it was in the 60s but it was definitely below 80 below 80 um he I think he has a little bit to go until he's you know someone you can Trot out there to be an NFL kicker because those guys do have to be very very reliable with that said I think you got to put gay on on kind of a short leash don't you I mean he he has been shaky and now he's coming off of a hernia I just think you gotta be careful of getting into the Adam vinary situation of 2019 where they basically kept him around and I think they ultimately IR him but he was losing them games because he was just constantly missing kicks and he looked not good he was you know felt like he was dealing with some stuff physically but every time we would ask about it they kept saying you know he's making these kicks in practice and it's like okay well he's not in the game so at a certain point something's got to give so magay I think we certainly have to keep an eye on him now kickers don't make 100% he deserves the grace to occasionally Miss some kicks because they all do Justin Tucker you know Evan mcferson every everybody misses some kicks um but it's going to be about consistency it's going to be about big moments I think uh but it's certainly worth keeping an eye on shider will be around on the practice squad for a while I'm sure before they're totally comfortable making any moves and making gay the only guy on on the team whatsoever so um overall op optimism you know Josh DS is working his way back he's finally on the practice field Matt gay it looks like he may be good for Sunday but he's at least a full participant in practice again I mean remember we don't know that Matt gay is done as a kicker like I think everyone gets a little worried because kickers are so volatile and it seems like once they go they go um but throughout his career he's been a very very good kicker and he had some awesome moments with the Colts last year so the judgment's still out I don't think we can say he's toast or anything yet but we definitely got to keep an eye on this one so coming up going to go back to the defensive side of the ball and look at some new injuries that have cropped up and maybe look into what the Colts are going to have to do if any of these guys can't play on Sunday passion drive and patience the formula for winning championships is also what keeps your ride or die alive eBay Motors has everything you need to maintain your vehicle and level it up to Peak Performance superchargers roof racks exhaust kits LED headlights and more whether you're in into speed power or style eBay Motors has got you covered with over 122 million parts for your number one rid or die you'll always find exactly what you want and with eBay guaranteed fit your part is guaranteed to fit your ride every time or it's your money back because with eBay Motors you're burning rubber and not cash with all the parts you need at the prices you want it's easy to make your car the MVP and bring home some huge wins keep your ride or die alive at ebaymotors.com eligible items only exclusions apply eBay guaranteed fit only available to you s customers all right defense so uh we already knew that DeForest Buckner left Sunday's game late with a back injury it didn't look great at the time but I saw him on the sideline after and you know he was standing there on the sideline looked like he might have even wanted to get back in um but the the defense never got an extra possession so we don't know but nonetheless um he was out for Wednesday's practice uh Buckner is a guy who tends to play through injuries though um no matter how severe it seems so he could maybe not practice this week and still play on Sunday but if that was the case I would imagine he might still be on a pitch count because that's kind of how the Colts have operated with him for the most part like they know he doesn't have to practice but if he's physically capable of playing they'll let him play but we'll rein him back a little bit um so this one's tough because with what the Texans just did to the Colts in the Run game last week they've got a better running back coming up this week with the Packers and Josh Jacobs I mean Joe Mixon his best days are behind him and he had an awesome day against the Colts last week Josh Jacobs is still in his prime and doing great he averaged five yards to carry last week uh he is on the practice Report with his own back injury this week but he was still a limited participant um but obviously if DeForest Buckner is out we know that's going to mean more hav Bryan probably is the starter next to Grover Stewart uh it's going to be a little more at of to atab B but he's a better pass rusher than than he is a run stuffer so um maybe rayquan Davis starts next to to Grover Stewart If DeForest Buckner can't play this week who knows all I know is you would rather have Buckner out there than really anybody else so that's going to be a tricky one um hopefully they you know rest him for a couple days and maybe he's able to get like a limited session on Friday and you can still roll with him but this one I definitely think it Bears monitoring because he's not only one of your most important defensive players he's one of your team's MVPs uh so if Buckner can't play this suddenly becomes a little tougher of a matchup for the Colts because we know the Packers are going to want to run the ball because Jordan love is obviously hurt if Jordan love miraculously plays they're not going to want to drop him back 50 times so the onus is going to be on the Packers Run game and if the Colts don't have one of their better run Defenders out there that's obviously not going to be a chill time compared to what happened last week um further down the line another one of their better run Defenders quiddy pay uh he missed Wednesday's practice with a hamstring injury obviously hamstring injuries are very tricky because you can play that week with one or you could be out several weeks it just kind of depends on the severity of it that that one's real tough I mean we're just going to have to keep an eye on that throughout the the week um because we haven't heard anything about it until today luckily the Colts still do have a little bit of depth at defensive end obviously after Samson Ecom suffered his Achilles injury that took a hit um but luckily you know let let's remove pay from the equation on this one you got taon Lewis starting on one side and either Liu or Dao dbo on the other one um you do still have some juice out there but it looks a lot better with quiddy pay out there because again he's one of your better run Defenders he can set an edge he's tough strong and is a tenacious guy who's going to attack the back field so him not being out there would not be ideal obviously and then one that might be the biggest deal in a normal game maybe not in this one against the Packers if it's Malik Willis starting at quarterback for the Packers but Julian Blackman uh was out Wednesday with a shoulder injury so obviously his season ended prematurely last year with a shoulder injury I don't want to speculate because it may not even be the same shoulder it could be the opposite shoulder but if it is the same one that could be maintenance if he felt like it was sore um it could be a re-aggravation like we just don't know enough about it obviously we need to talk to him this week cuz the the range of outcomes for that are it's really nothing and precautionary or it's something that you know maybe he has to sit out a little bit and obviously with how the safety group is that's not ideal because then you have Nick cross and Rodney Thomas who are starting safeties and I mean now we know why they brought Ronnie Harrison back um hopefully that's not in anticipation for Blackman to miss much time maybe they're maybe they question whether he plays Sunday against the Packers but um this is literally like one of the three worst groups of Defenders you could hope to be on the injury report right now uh but again it's just Wednesday we don't know maybe some of these guys are back Thursday like that that's the frustrating part of kind of working off of the Wednesday injury report it's just kind of disconcerting with what just happened to Juju Bren and now you have these other very critical pieces of your defense who are missing practice now so again it's it's only Wednesday and it's only week two things could be worse but we got to keep an eye on this stuff absolutely for sure um so the next episode Thursday will be crossover Thursday I'll be speaking with Peter Bukowski of locked on Packers that'll be a really good one uh remember our friends over at lock on NFL are now two shows every day featuring Tyler Roland in the morning and then Tony Wiggins for some real NFL talk afterward add in the lock on local experts and you get unprecedented NFL Insight all in 30 minutes it's the new locked on NFL and it's twice a day make the madman Tyler Roland and the barber Tony Wiggins you are second listen at the new locked on NFL on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts remember if you guys uh want to become a locked on quilts Insider chat with us directly ask us your questions get the inside scoop follow the link in our show notes to sign up there uh if you don't already follow at lockon Colts Jak Arthur NFL and @zack hi2 on Twitter we're also on Tik Tok and Instagram as well those accounts are growing all the time much appreciated also be sure to subscribe on YouTube and wherever you listen to your podcast and we would love love love your ratings and reviews as well uh that helps us so much and it's something simple you 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