The Colts will officially have one of their key defenders back for Monday night’s game against the 49ers.
Defensive tackle DeForest Buckner has been activated off of injured reserve, Indianapolis announced on Monday.
It’s been expected that Buckner would be back for the finale of Week 16, with both Buckner and head coach Shane Steichen noting that was the plan.
Buckner now will get to face his former team after being sidelined by a neck injury. In nine games this year, Buckner has posted 5.0 sacks, nine tackles for loss, and 13 quarterback hits.
As a corresponding move, Indianapolis waived quarterback Brett Rypien. Philip Rivers is set to start for Indianapolis on Monday night and Riley Leonard is also healthy to be the team’s backup QB.
Additionally, the Colts have elevated receiver Coleman Owen and guard Josh Sills from the practice squad to the active roster for Monday’s matchup with San Francisco.
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The Colts have made an update to their injury report for Monday night’s game against the 49ers.
Left tackle Bernhard Raimann has been ruled out for the game. Raimann was initially listed as questionable to play with an elbow injury.
Luke Tenuta will likely get the start in place of Raimann. The Colts also have right tackle Braden Smith on injured reserve, so there will be backups on both sides of the line as they try to keep their playoff hopes flickering.
The Colts have also ruled out cornerback Sauce Gardner and wide receiver Anthony Gould. Defensive tackle DeForest Buckner was the only other player listed as questionable and will need to be activated from injured reserve to play on Monday night.
Wide receiver Ricky Pearsall won’t be in the 49ers’ lineup when they face the Colts on Monday night.
Pearsall missed practice all this week because of knee and ankle injuries that led the 49ers to rule him out on Saturday’s injury report. It will be the seventh game that Pearsall has missed due to injury this season.
Pearsall has 31 catches for 443 yards in his eight appearances this season.
The 49ers also ruled out cornerback Renardo Green with a neck injury. Green was limited in practice all week with a neck injury, so the team may be hoping to get him back to 100 percent for Week 17.
Quarterback Kurtis Rourke (knee) won’t be activated from injured reserve and defensive end Yetur Gross-Matos (hamstring) is questionable to make his return.
Colts cornerback Sauce Gardner officially will not return for Week 16.
Gardner has been ruled out for Monday night’s game against the 49ers due to his calf injury.
The star cornerback has not been able to practice or play since suffering the injury during Indianapolis’ Nov. 30 loss to the Texans.
But, via James Boyd of TheAthletic.com, Steichen said Gardner will play again this season.
Gardner appeared in three games for the Colts after the Jets traded him to Indianapolis. In 10 total games this season, Gardner has recorded 33 total tackles with eight passes defensed.
Receiver Anthony Gould (foot) has also been ruled out for Monday’s game while Steichen noted offensive lineman Bernhard Raimann’s status for Monday is uncertain. Raimann was able to participate on Saturday after he did not practice on Thursday or Friday.
Defensive tackle DeForest Buckner (neck) will play on Monday after missing the last five games. He will have to be activated off of injured reserve.
It looks like Alec Pierce will be able to play when the Colts go against the 49ers on Monday night. But cornerback Sauce Gardner does not look poised to return from his calf injury.
Pierce (foot) was upgraded to a full participant on Friday after he was limited on Thursday.
Gardner, however, remained sidelined as a non-participant. Receiver Anthony Gould (foot) and offensive tackle Bernhard Raimann (elbow) also were DNPs on Friday.
Guard Quenton Nelson (wrist) was downgraded from full on Thursday to limited on Friday.
Quarterback Anthony Richardson (eye) remained limited as the Colts get him back on the field in his 21-day practice window to return from IR.
Receiver Josh Downs and linebacker Germaine Pratt were both back on the field as full participants after each missed Thursday’s session for personal reasons.
Running back Ameer Abdullah (neck), defensive tackle DeForest Buckner (neck), and safety Daniel Scott (knee) all remained full.
It’s not quite Nolan Ryan vs. Steve Carlton, but it’s an interesting wrinkle arising from the surprise unretirement of Colts quarterback Philip Rivers.
Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford entered Thursday night’s game at No. 8 on the all-time passing yardage list. He exited at No. 7.
With 457 passing yards, Stafford leapfrogged Rivers. Currently, Stafford has 63,988 yards. Rivers has 63,560.
Rivers needs 329 yards on Monday night to reclaim the seventh position. (In his first game back, Rivers threw for only 120 yards against a Seattle defense that Stafford torched.)
Stafford likely won’t be looking in the rear-view mirror. With 101 more yards next Monday night against the Falcons, Stafford will bypass Ben Roethlisberger at No. 6 on the career regular-season passing yardage list.
Unless Roethlisberger unretires next week. Which sounds just as crazy now as the notion of Rivers coming back did 12 days ago.
49ers wide receiver Ricky Pearsall did not practice Thursday, the team’s first session of the week ahead of Monday Night Football.
Pearsall injured his ankle and aggravated the posterior cruciate ligament injury in his knee.
With an extra day this week, the 49ers are not ruling out Pearsall.
“He’s doing a lot better today than he was on Monday, and the extra day will help,” Shanahan said, via David Bonilla of 49erswebzone.com. “So, he’s got a shot.”
Offensive guard Spencer Burford (knee/ankle), defensive tackle Jordan Elliott (knee), linebacker Nick Martin (concussion), running back Christian McCaffrey (rest) and offensive tackle Trent Williams (rest) also did not participate.
Linebacker Tatum Bethune (ankle), cornerback Renardo Green (neck), defensive end Yetur Gross-Matos (hamstring) and defensive end Sam Okuayinonu (ankle) were limited.
The Colts remained without cornerback Sauce Gardner at Thursday’s practice.
Gardner has missed the last two games with a calf injury he suffered in the team’s Week 13 loss to the Texans. The team will have two more practice sessions before issuing injury designations for Monday’s game against the 49ers.
Quarterback Anthony Richardson (eye) was limited in his first practice since being designated for return from injured reserve. Wide receiver Alec Pierce (Achilles) was also a limited participant.
Wide receiver Josh Downs (personal), wide receiver Anthony Gould (foot), linebacker Germaine Pratt (personal), and left tackle Bernhard Raimann (elbow) did not take part in practice. Running back Ameer Abdullah (knee), defensive tackle DeForest Buckner (neck), left guard Quenton Nelson (wrist), and safety Daniel Scott (knee) were full participants.
Anthony Richardson is officially getting back on the practice field.
Via multiple reporters, head coach Shane Steichen announced in his Thursday press conference that the Colts are opening Richardson’s 21-day practice window to return from injured reserve.
Richardson has been sidelined since suffering an orbital fracture during a freak pregame accident back in October.
Steichen said that Richardson still has some vision limitations, so the plan is to get him worked back in through individual drills and with some scout-team work.
With that, Richardson is not going to be activated for Monday’s game against the 49ers and it’s still unclear whether or not Richardson will be healthy enough to play at all the rest of the season.
Philip Rivers is still set to start against San Francisco on Monday night for his second game since surprisingly coming out of retirement at age 44. But Steichen noted rookie Riley Leonard is over the knee injury he sustained against the Jaguars in Week 14.
The Colts’ first injury report of the week will be out later on Thursday.
Philip Rivers sells.
The return of the 44-year-old grandpa to the Colts, nearly five years after he last played for the team, moved the needle in Indianapolis.
Via Zack Keefer of TheAthletic.com, the Week 15 game between the Colts and the Seahawks was the most-watched Colts game on CBS in Indianapolis in five years.
And, of course, five years ago, Rivers was the team’s starting quarterback.
It’s no surprise. Rivers’s return sparked fascination for all NFL fans. For Colts fans, who were able to enjoy a near upset of one of the best teams in the league, there was no reason to stop watching the game until the very end.
This week, the Colts host the 49ers on Monday Night Football. The national broadcast gives all football fans a chance, two nights before an old man in red makes his worldwide rounds, to see if an old man in blue can make a Christmas wish come true.
