Colts
A league source tells PFN’s Aaron Wilson that ideally the Colts would be able to sit RB Jonathan Taylor for Thursday night’s game against the Broncos and let him rest his ankle injury. But there’s enough pressure on everyone in Indianapolis to where they really need to rely on Taylor.
“JT is their guy, everything revolves around him and the running game,” they said. “That said, he’s human and now he’s hurt. It’s not that bad, but it’s early in the season to push it and possibly make it worse. The smart play is letting him heal up and give it a shot next week. Of course, the owner (Jim Irsay) and everyone is getting extremely antsy and upset about the bad start. Something has to give.”
- Wilson mentions undrafted rookie RB Deon Jackson took Taylor’s reps in practice on Monday.
- Colts HC Frank Reich said the team will have a plan if Taylor doesn’t play, adding: “He’s not ready to go right now, but we’ll see if he’s ready to go Thursday night.” (George Bremer)
- Taylor on if he will play Thursday: “I definitely plan to play, but if you can’t go, you can’t go. That’s why you get as much treatment as you can.” (Zak Keefer)
- Reich mentioned to the media LB Shaquille Leonard has a broken nose to go along with his concussion. (Mike Chappell)
Jaguars
Jaguars HC Doug Pederson believes the poor performance by QB Trevor Lawrence this past week was more of a one-time thing rather than a step backward for the former No. 1 overall pick.
“Let’s hope it’s a blip,” Pederson said, via Jaguars.com. “I don’t think it’s a setback. I think it’s a blip. You hate to say it, but maybe it’s one of those games in the season where just nothing goes right. It happens. I never make excuses. We have to do a better job of hanging onto the football. He knows that. That’s the prize possession out there. If we make the plays that were left on the field, it might be a different outcome today.”
“Obviously, it is what it is,” Pederson added. “We lost the football game. But when you look at it, there were plays to be made. Our guys will learn to make them as we go. In time, they will learn to do that. There are very teachable moments for us as an offense, for a team — even defensively.”At the end of the day, that’s a playoff team that we still had chances of beating. Unfortunately, we didn’t.”
Titans
Titans fourth-round TE Chigoziem Okonkwo might have taken a big step forward in Week 4 with a breakout game, as the rookie led the team with three catches for 38 yards and a touchdown. He says he gained a lot of confidence from the performance.
“I felt like in this game particularly when I was on the field I felt very comfortable and very confident,” Okonkwo said via ESPN’s Turron Davenport. “When I would hear the play call, I would get lined up, I would know exactly what my job is and it was just playing unconscious and finally just getting out there and just going. A lot of times in other games, I would know my job but I’d still be thinking about it, so this game was definitely a big step.”
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