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.
Colts Clips
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.
The NFL fines players for illegal hits during the preseason, but for the third and final week of the preseason, those fines were fairly limited.
The biggest fine went to Colts cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt, who was fined $7,791 for unnecessary roughness. Ordinarily that money would be taken out of a player’s Week 1 game check, but Taylor-Britt is already suspended without pay for Week 1 for a violation of the NFL’s personal conduct policy, so his fine will come out of his Week 2 check.
Four other players were fined for preseason Week 3: Buffalo’s Jalon Kilgore $5,560 for illegal use of the helmet, Minnesota’s Jermar Jefferson $5,583 for facemasking, New Orleans’ Danny Stutsman $7,011 for illegal use of the helmet, and Pittsburgh’s Doneiko Slaughter $4,917 for taunting.
Only five fines for a week is unusually low in the NFL: In preseason Week 1, nine players were fined, and in preseason Week 2, 16 players were fined. It’s likely that the NFL decided not to bother fining some players who were cut after the preseason finale, as those players won’t be getting Week 1 game checks anyway. The five players who were fined all remain under contract and have paychecks the NFL can dock.
The NFL and NFL Players Association collectively bargained the fine process. The NFL’s officiating department reviews plays and refers potential fines to the football operations staff, which then examines the plays in question to determine whether a fine is in order. Players who get fined are sent a letter informing them of the fine and a video of the play in question. Players who don’t appeal have the money withheld from their next game check. Players who do appeal get a hearing with an appeals officer who is jointly appointed by the NFL and the NFL Players Association. This season, the appeals officers are Derrick Brooks, Jordy Nelson and James Thrash. The appeals officer has final say on whether or not the player gets fined.
Fine money is donated to the Professional Athletes Foundation, which supports former players in need, and the NFL Foundation, which supports health and safety initiatives in football from youth leagues to the professional level.
The Giants released wide receiver Darius Slayton on Monday, making him a free agent. Slayton said in a social media post that he is “excited to see what’s next.”
Josina Anderson of Exhibit News Network reports that three teams already have reached out to Slayton’s representation for preliminary discussions. Anderson also mentioned the Colts as a potential destination, given Slayton’s relationship with quarterback Daniel Jones.
Slayton spent seven seasons in New York, the longest tenured Giants player before his release. He was a fifth-round pick of the Giants in 2019, four rounds after the team drafted Jones.
Slayton and Jones played together six seasons.
Slayton caught 37 passes for 538 yards and one touchdown last season.
Colts wide receiver Alec Pierce has been back at practice for a little over a week, but that’s been enough time for the team to see what they needed from the wideout.
Pierce had ankle surgery this offseason and set playing in Week 1 as his goal throughout his recovery process. The finish line is days away and it appears Pierce is going to make it.
At a Monday press conference, head coach Shane Steichen said, via multiple reporters, that Pierce “should be good to go” against the Ravens.
Keenan Allen is also expected to play after being arrested in the hours after the team’s final preseason game and tight end Tyler Warren has returned from a groin injury, so the Colts are set to have their full receiving corps available for Daniel Jones’s first game since tearing his Achilles last season.
The Ravens have named a starting center for their first game of the 2026 season.
Head coach Jesse Minter told reporters at a Monday press conference that Jovaughn Gwyn will be doing the snapping on offense against the Colts in Week 1.
It will be the first regular season start of Gwyn’s career. He spent the last three seasons with the Falcons after entering the league as a 2023 seventh-round pick and moved on to the Ravens as a free agent this offseason.
Danny Pinter was seen as the leading candidate to land the starting job before he tore his patellar tendon. Veteran Ethan Pocic was the other option and Minter said that it is not a “permanent decision” to go with Gwyn in the middle of the offensive line.
