The Steelers did not have a couple of defensive backs for Wednesday’s practice as they begin to get ready to face the Colts.
Cornerback Jalen Ramsey (wrist) and cornerback Jamel Dean (ankle) both did not participate.
While defensive tackle Cameron Heyward also didn’t practice, he was given a veteran rest day.
Additionally, running back Rico Dowdle (toe) and receiver Michael Pittman (foot) were both limited.
Dowdle has missed the last two games with his injury.
The Colts won in London last Sunday, but it was not a day cornerback Sauce Gardner would like to remember.
Gardner got beaten on a pair of deep balls and his substandard effort at trying to chase down Commanders wideout Antonio Williams on a long touchdown that was ultimately called back due to a penalty earned him plenty of criticism after the game. On Wednesday, Gardner called film of his performance “definitely embarrassing to watch.”
“There was multiple plays where my effort was not there,” Gardner said. “That’s not what I stand for. That’s not the type of person I am. That’s not the type of player I am. That’ll never happen again.”
Gardner said he doesn’t have “an answer” for why his effort was lacking against the Commanders before reiterating that it won’t happen again in the future. Given the price the Colts paid to get him, that’s the least the team will be hoping to see from him in the future.
The Colts have added a veteran defensive end ahead of Week 5.
The team announced that they have signed Carl Lawson to their practice squad. Tight end Kenny Fletcher was released in a corresponding move.
Lawson played in one game for the Ravens last season and he’s played in 90 games since the Bengals made him a fourth-round pick in 2017. He spent four seasons in Cincinnati and played for current Colts defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo in his last two years with the team.
Lawson moved on to the Jets and spent three seasons with them — he missed all of the 2021 season with a torn Achilles — and played for the Cowboys in 2024. He has 135 tackles, 32 sacks, four forced fumbles and a fumble recovery over his entire career.
Colts owner Carlie Irsay-Gordon has had an active, visible presence on the team’s sidelines for a while. It predates her tenure as the controlling owner of the franchise.
She has explained her approach in the past. It wasn’t an issue when the Colts were 7-0 in 2025.
This year, with a pair of standalone games in the first four weeks and multiple images of Irsay-Gordon working alongside the coaches and the staff, it has become a thing again — mainly because she has been criticized for it.
Irsay-Gordon addressed the situation in comments to Bridget Condon of Front Office Sports Tonight.
“I like to say on a good day I have like a fifth-grade reading level understanding of the game and just the basic concepts of what we’re trying to do, depending on the week and depending on our opponent and depending on the situation,” Irsay-Gordon said.
“But I think, then, it just helps to understand and to ask questions because I think one of the things, in my opinion, like being a good leader is about listening, really to understand. And I think that’s what the best teams do.”
In June 2025, she talked about her approach during games.
“I need to be able to say, ‘Is this person full of BS? Do they even know what they’re talking about?’” Irsay-Gordon said at the time. “It is such a complex organism, a football team and how it operates. . . . You could say, ‘Oh, that person ran that route wrong.’ Then you learn, ‘Oh, someone tagged the wrong WR and it wasn’t really the player’s fault, it was the person that called it.
“I would suggest it for anyone else that has to pay coaches and GMs millions and millions of dollars. It helps you make a less expensive mistake, potentially.”
I’ve personally got no problem with it. Other owners should do it. Inevitably, they’ll be making big decisions about the future of the franchise. They can either make them based on information obtained from others, or they can be actively involved in gathering the requisite information in real time.
That said, there are potential issues. The coach can feel undermined. His decisions could be hampered by having the ultimate boss lurking. As one coach put it, there are ways to do what she’s doing that aren’t so obvious — to the viewers or to the coaches. In a word, Irsay-Gordon’s current approach can be “messy.”
As another coach put it, there’s a potential performative element to the exercise, whether it’s intended or not. She now knows that the cameras will find her, and the notepad and the pen have already become fodder for all sorts of memes.
One important question that should be asked at some point is whether she’s doing what some other owners do — wasting the coach’s valuable time the day after a game with a long meeting to rehash everything that happened.
Still, she’s the owner. Many things fall within the prerogative of the owners. Jerry Jones made himself the General Manager of the Cowboys when he bought the team in 1989, despite having no obvious skills or experience to perform such an important and specialized job. And while that happened in the days before the Internet and social media, there was no loud objection to Jerry giving himself a job for which he wasn’t fit.
Likewise, plenty of owners end up on the sidelines of a game. It’s their call. It’s one of the privileges of holding the controlling stake in the team.
And that’s really the bottom line. She can do whatever she wants to do. The coach is being scrutinized by tens of thousands in the stadium and millions watching on TV. Whether the owner is monitoring from the luxury suite or peering over the coach’s shoulder, it’s part and parcel of being an NFL head coach.
While it’s important to delegate the biggest jobs in the football operation to qualified people and to get out of their way, Carlie Irsay-Gordon is acquiring data that will help her make important decisions. Over time, her “fifth-grade reading level” understanding will become more advanced, to the point of getting an NFL GED. Which would be much more than what Jones had when he made himself the GM of the Dallas Cowboys.
The Colts won’t have defensive end Arden Key in the lineup for a while.
Key injured his hamstring in Sunday’s 30-13 win over the Commanders in London and head coach Shane Steichen said at a Monday press conference that Key is going to miss more time moving forward. Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reports that Key is expected to miss three or four weeks.
That timeline could make Key a candidate for injured reserve, which would mean he’d miss at least four games. The Colts play the Steelers, Titans, Vikings and Jaguars in the next four weeks.
Key has eight tackles, a half-sack and a forced fumble so far this season.
