Daniel Jones progressed to 7-on-7 work during the team’s offseason program, and the Colts quarterback expects to do everything at camp.
“I’m doing everything. Cleared to do everything,” Jones said Friday, via video from James Boyd of TheAthletic.com. “I think it’s just about, at this point, sharpening that, getting more explosive, getting stronger, kind of improving what you can do. I can do everything and feel really good doing it.”
Jones ruptured his right Achilles in a Dec. 7 game against the Jaguars and underwent surgery two days later. He said Friday that he hit “a lot” of his rehab milestones before the mandatory minicamp and has gotten even stronger since.
“I’m feeling good,” Jones said. “I think I’ve made a good amount of progress since minicamp and will continue to do that these next two weeks before camp and then all through camp. But I’m feeling really good and feel like I’m in a good spot.”
Jones admitted he is not over the mental hurdle of forgetting about the Achilles repair.
“You still think about it. Probably will until you get playing and into games and stuff,” Jones said. “You’re putting a lot of time into it. It’s kind of the central part of all my training and all my time this offseason. Still thinking about but really happy with where I am.”
He will work out with his teammates next week in preparation for the start of training camp.
Jones completed 68 percent of his passes for 3,101 yards with 19 touchdowns and eight interceptions in the 13 games before his injury last season.
Only two running backs in the NFL have carried the ball more than 300 times in each of the last two seasons, but it sounds like the Colts wouldn’t mind if Jonathan Taylor’s streak ends there.
It’s not a question of effectiveness as Taylor has run for 3,016 yards and 29 touchdowns on his 626 totes, but running backs coach DeAndre Smith pointed out the correlation between usage and injury risk as a reason why the team would like to find other options that would allow the running game to continue to flourish while Taylor is getting a chance to rest during games.
“We definitely need to find ways to take some of that workload off him,” Smith said, via Stephen Holder of ESPN.com. “If I can find another guy or two that can take some of those carries off, he’s just going to be that much better. So, it’s definitely been a constant conversation. I’m aware of it. When he’s healthy, we’ve got a chance to win every game. So, that’s always the first thing I think about: making sure he’s available every week.”
Taylor played every game in 2025, but missed three games in 2024 and 13 games over the previous two seasons.
There’s no surefire answer on the roster at the moment as 2025 fifth-rounder DJ Giddens only ran 26 times as a rookie and 2026 seventh-rounder Seth McGowan is joined by undrafted free agents further down the depth chart. If one of those players doesn’t flash quickly in camp, the Colts may have to look elsewhere for the kind of help that Smith would like to give Taylor come the fall.
The Terrion Arnold case has returned to court on Friday, for a hearing on whether he’ll be required to wear a GPS monitor while on house arrest pending trial on eight felony charges.
The core question is whether he’ll be practicing or playing football in 2026. If so, the judge likely will stick with the ruling made while Arnold was still on the Lions’ roster. If not, it’s more likely that Arnold will be required to follow the standard home-confinement protocol and wear a device.
The evidence supporting Arnold’s position has come from his agent, Nicole Lynn. Via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press, Lynn testified that four teams have inquired about Arnold: the Colts, Jets, Seahawks, and Texans. She said that he visited and worked out for the Texans, per Birkett. (That workout has yet to appear on any of the daily NFL transaction reports.)
Lynn added that there is a “very good likelihood” Arnold will be signed in the next 45 days.
The next question will be whether any of those teams will confirm their interest in Arnold, or act on it. Often, if a player who works out for a team isn’t promptly signed, he’s not going to be signed by that team — at least not in the immediate future.
The other question looming over Arnold is whether the NFL will place him on the Commissioner Exempt list (i.e., paid leave). If a team has reason to think that’s coming, it will have less reason to sign him.
Regardless, the testimony worked. The judge, per Birkett, denied the prosecution’s motion. Arnold will not be required to wear a GPS device. He remains confined to his home with the exception of work and meetings with attorneys.
Adam Vinatieri is set to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in August and he’ll be celebrated by one of his former teams during the regular season.
The Colts announced on Wednesday that Vinatieri will be inducted into the franchise’s Ring of Honor in October. The ceremony will take place on October 18 during their Week 6 home game against the Titans.
Vinatieri signed with the Colts as a free agent in 2006 and helped them to a Super Bowl win during his first season. Vinatieri hit 14-of-15 field goal attempts during that playoff run to set a record for most made field goals in a single postseason. He went on to spend 14 seasons with the Colts before retiring after the 2018 season.
Vinatieri is the NFL’s career leader in points scored and field goals made in both the regular season and playoffs.
The NFL is making a significant change to the offseason calendar for the 2027 season.
Tom Pelissero of NFL Media reports that the free agent negotiating window will open on March 9 next year. That is the same date that the two-day window opened this year, but the change comes in how close it will be to the end of the Scouting Combine.
NFL teams will wrap up their examinations and interrogations of incoming prospects on March 8 in 2027, which moves the league away from having a week or so between the two events as they have in past years.
Under that setup, the Combine has always been rife with table-setting for free agency as agents and team executives are all in the same place with their minds on the same things. With that gap eliminated, there will likely be even more of that work being done in Indianapolis so that teams are ready to make moves right from the starting gun.
