Colts Clips
A report on Sunday morning indicated cornerback Joey Porter Jr. was unlikely to be in the Steelers’ lineup for their season-opening game against the Falcons and official word on his status came 90 minutes before kickoff in Pittsburgh.
Porter is officially inactive for the game. Porter was listed as questionable with a back injury after spending all of training camp on the physically unable to perform list.
Porter’s inactivity this summer was also thought to be connected to his desire for a contract extension that never came together. That has reportedly opened the door to a trade as the Steelers have a team policy against negotiating contracts during the regular season.
Updates on where things stand with Porter for Week 2’s game against the Patriots and beyond will likely come this week. For Sunday, though, he’ll just be a spectator.
Falcons at Steelers
Falcons: QB Tua Tagovailoa, QB Michael Penix, DB Billy Bowman, DB Malcom DeWalt, LB Christian Harris, OL Ethan Onianwa
Steelers: CB Joey Porter Jr., QB Drew Allar, G Gennings Dunker, DL Kevin Jobity, DL Gabe Rubio, QB Will Howard
Bears at Panthers
Bears: QB Tyson Bagent, S Xavier Woods, OT Ozzy Trapilo, OL Jordan McFadden, DL Jayden Loving, DL Jamree Kromah, QB Miller Moss.
Panthers: TE Ja’Tavion Sanders, WR John Metchie, QB Haynes King, S Zakee Wheatley, OT Albert Reese, LB Patrick Jones, DT Cam Jackson
Buccaneers at Bengals
Buccaneers: DL DeMonte Capehart, CB Ayden Garnes, WR Jalen McMillan, G Billy Schrauth, DL Elijah Simmons, OT Justin Skule, RB Sean Tucker
Bengals: WR Ke’Shawn Williams, CB Josh Newton, OT Myles Hinton, C Connor Lew, TE Jack Endries, DT Landon Robinson, DE Shemar Stewart
Saints at Lions
Saints: TE Oscar Delp, RB Alvin Kamara, OT Mason Murphy, DE Cam Jordan, DT John Ridgeway, DT Khristian Boyd, QB Zach Wilson
Lions: CB Christian Izien, LB Jimmy Rolder, DE Ahmed Hassanein, CB Ennis Rakestraw, DL Mekhi Wingo
Bills at Texans
Bills: RB Ty Johnson, WR Skyler Bell, OT Jude Bowry, G Ar’maj Reed-Adams, DL T.J. Sanders, LB Mike Danna, S Jalon Kilgore
Texans: OL Febechi Nwaiwu, CB Collin Wright, LB Aiden Fisher, OL Nate Thomas, DL Jaden Crumedy, TE Brevin Jordan
Ravens at Colts
Ravens: QB Joe Fagnano, WR Devontez Walker, WR Elijah Sarratt, G Emery Jones, CB Chandler Rivers, DT Nnamdi Madubuike, LB Teddye Buchanan
Colts: LB Austin Ajiake, CB Jonathan Edwards, RB DJ Giddens, DE George Gumbs, QB Riley Leonard, G Dalton Tucker
Browns at Jaguars
Browns: QB Taylen Green, LB Justin Jefferson, CB Noah Igbinoghene, S Daniel Thomas, CB Toriano Pride, C Parker Brailsford, G Teven Jenkins
Jaguars: QB Quinn Ewers, S Jalen Huskey, DE Bryan Thomas, OL Daniel Faalele, TE Tanner Koziol, DE Wesley Williams
Jets at Titans
Jets: CB D’Angelo Ponds, RB Kene Nwangwu, K Blake Grupe, LB Trevin Wallace, LB Joseph Ossai
Titans: CB Jaylon Jones, OL Atonio Mafi, RB Nick Singleton, LB Cedric Gray, DT Jackie Marshall, OT Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson, LB Owen Pappoe
I said it this week on PFT Live. And I’ll say it again now.
Anyone who supports the Protect College Sports Act opposes player rights.
Those who are speaking out in support of the bill won’t admit it. We’ll do it for them. Under the guise of ending chaos tracing to decades of antitrust violations that denied the players the ability to earn anything for their skills, sacrifices, and fame, the proponents of the bill want to limit the amount of money that goes to players, diverting it to the programs.
That’s the fundamental problem none of them will ever acknowledge. There are only so many dollars that can be siphoned from the piggybanks of the boosters. Every dollar that goes to an NIL fund is one less dollar that can go to the program. They want to reduce what can go to the players, maximizing what can go to the programs.
Unwilling to embrace a nationwide union that would allow the creation of a salary cap, transfer limits, and other rules aimed at creating order, the powers-that-be crave an exemption from the laws that prevent the universities from coming together and crafting anticompetitive — and anticapitalist — restrictions on the players’ earning power and freedom to transfer. And ESPN has been leading the conga line, with influential voices like Nick Saban and Pat McAfee openly pushing the Protect College Sports Act.
On Saturday, ESPN gave Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas), one of the sponsors of the bill, an extended interview during College GameDay to press the case for passage of the proposed law. Cruz, not surprisingly, opened by pointing to the LSU and Brendan Sorsby situations as evidence of the current chaos. The loud reaction to those specific situations was always about mustering political momentum to get the bill passed.
Cruz also claimed that there currently is a "[s]piral of costs that is bankrupting almost every college program in the country. . . . They’re losing tens of millions of dollars.” That contention, to use a technical term, is horseshit.
There was no opposing viewpoint offered in response, other than the organic and incessant booing of Cruz (which included a one point a “Ted you suck!” chant). No time was provided for those who have concerns about the bill.
At one point, host Rece Davis posed a perfunctory question to Cruz regarding the absence of limits on compensation and mobility for coaches and administrators. Cruz offered an evasive word salad in response, and he received no pushback.
Contrary to what ESPN is leading its viewers to believe, the bill has real opposition. On Monday, Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) will conduct a press conference at noon ET with “college athletes, professional athlete unions, families and advocates” to address the problems with the bill.
From the email announcing the event, “participants will detail how the bill denies college athletes the rights and protections they are owed as workers and cuts off any path these athletes have to advocate for themselves — all so the NCAA, college athletic conferences and schools can consolidate money and power over athletes’ lives.”
Why wasn’t Murphy given equal time on College GameDay? Cruz and Murphy could have debated the merits and problems with the bill. While there are no safe bets in this age of bet! bet! bet!, it would be safe to wager the farm on ESPN not preempting McAfee’s show and taking Murphy’s press conference live as it happens on Monday.
The Colts have made a couple of Saturday moves in advance of Sunday’s matchup against the Ravens.
Linebacker Austin Ajiake has been downgraded from questionable to out. He popped up on the injury report on Friday as a non-participant.
Ajiake appeared in 16 games for Indianapolis last season, playing 70 percent of special teams snaps in those contests.
Additionally, Indianapolis has elevated cornerback Kenneth Harris to the gameday roster from the practice squad. An undrafted rookie out of Oklahoma State, Harris will be making his pro debut.
The Ravens officially ruled out two players for Sunday’s season opener against the Colts.
Ravens defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike and linebacker Teddye Buchanan will not play. Both are coming off season-ending injuries from 2025.
Madubuike’s delayed return was previously reported when coach Jesse Minter gave the team’s injury update during his news conference.
Buchanan was limited in practice all week. He tore the ACL and the meniscus in his right knee on Dec. 14 and sprained his LCL in the same knee.
He only returned to the practice field Aug. 17.
Trenton Simpson, listed as a co-starter on the depth chart, will start for Buchanan.
The Ravens, though, have only three healthy linebackers on their 53-player roster, so they are likely to elevate Carl Jones Jr. from the practice squad.
Wide receiver Devontez Walker (groin) is questionable after limited practices this week. Wide receiver Zay Flowers (hamstring) returned to full participation on Thursday and has no injury designation.
The team added defensive lineman Calais Campbell to the injury report as he took a rest day Friday.
Ravens defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike’s return to game action will have to wait a little bit longer.
Madubuike has been out since Week 2 of last season because of a neck injury that required surgery and head coach Jesse Minter said on Friday that he will not be playing against the Colts in the season opener. Madubuike had been doing team drills for the last couple of weeks, but Minter said he’s not all the way back to where he needs to be.
“He is really, really close,” Minter said, via the team’s website. “It’s been a great process for him to return from the injury that he had. We feel great about where he’s at, but we’re not going to play him this week.”
Travis Jones, Calais Campbell, Broderick Washington, John Jenkins, and Aeneas Peebles are the other defensive linemen on the roster in Baltimore heading into Week 1.
The Ravens did not hold a full practice on Thursday, but their estimated practice report included an encouraging upgrade.
The team lists wide receiver Zay Flowers (hamstring) as a full participant after he was limited Wednesday.
Until this week, Flowers had not practiced since joint practices with the Vikings on Aug. 19-20 due to a minor hamstring injury. The Ravens have been deliberate in his return, but Flowers told reporters Wednesday that he is fully recovered.
“I feel great. I feel better than ever,” Flowers said, via Ryan Mink of the team website. “I am ready to play football. I feel like we have been off for a while. Our season ended a bit early last year, so we had an extended break. We’re just ready to go.”
Flowers’ status was the only change to the Ravens’ practice report.
Linebacker Teddye Buchanan (knee), defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike (neck) and wide receiver Devontez Walker (groin) remained limited a second day. Madubuike and Buchanan are still working their way back from season-ending injuries.
Colts receiver Alec Pierce continues to be a limited participant in practice this week.
But he still appears to be on track to play in Sunday’s season opener against the Ravens.
Pierce, who is returning from offseason ankle surgery, was listed as a limited participant for both Wednesday and Thursday this week. But, as noted by Mike Chappell of Fox 59 Indianapolis, he remains in line to play a significant role on Sunday.
Pierce’s injury is officially listed as a heel.
Also on the Colts’ injury report, safety AJ Haulcy (ankle), tight end Drew Ogletree (neck), and center Sedrick Van Pran-Granger (illness) were all upgraded from limited to full.
Backup quarterback Anthony Richardson (illness) was added to the report as full.
Defensive tackle Grover Stewart did not practice on Thursday as a rest day.
While Colts receiver Alec Pierce is expected to play in Sunday’s season opener against the Ravens, he is not yet practicing in full.
Pierce (heel) was officially a limited participant on Indianapolis’ first injury report of the season on Wednesday.
Pierce is still on his way back from offseason surgery. But, via JJ Stankevitz of the team’s website, Pierce said Wednesday that he’s getting better every day.
Pierce was taken off of the physically unable to perform list late last month.
Additionally, safety AJ Hailey (ankle), tight end Drew Ogletree (neck), and center Sedrick Van Pran-Granger (illness) were also limited for the Colts on Wednesday.
Ravens wide receiver Zay Flowers returned to practice after an extended absence last week and he was back on the field with the team on Wednesday.
Flowers was listed as a limited participant in the workout due to a hamstring injury. Reporters at the session noted that he worked with a trainer early in practice and did position drills before the team closed the practice.
Flowers said in the locker room, via multiple reporters, that he’s feeling well and a move up to full participation in the next couple of days would be another good sign for his availability against the Colts on Sunday.
Defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike (neck), linebacker Teddye Buchanan (knee), and wide receiver Devontez Walker (groin) were also listed as limited participants. Madubuike and Buchanan are coming back from season-ending injuries in 2025.
The Colts made a change to their roster ahead of their season opener against the Ravens.
They announced that they have signed offensive tackle Luke Tenuta off of their practice squad. Cornerback Jaylon Jones was waived in a corresponding move.
Tenuta played in four games for the Colts last year and failed to make the cut to 53 players this summer. He also played in three games for the Packers during the 2022 season.
Jones was a 2023 seventh-round pick in Indianapolis. He played in 44 games and made 29 starts over the last three seasons.
The Colts also signed tight end Kenny Fletcher Jr. to their practice squad.
