Colts Clips
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.
The Commanders’ loss in London to the Colts had nothing to do with a lack of fan support.
Via Nathan Brown of the Indianapolis Star, the neutral-site game for which the Commanders were the designated home team was dominated by Commanders fans.
“I think out of all the teams I’ve played overseas, [the Commanders] is the fanbase that traveled the best that I’ve seen,” Colts safety Camryn Bynum said. “Maybe that’s because they’re on the east coast, and so it’s a closer flight?
“But it is still six hours for them, so I don’t know. They did travel really well.”
Usually, international games feature an eclectic mix of NFL jerseys and colors. As explained by Brown, the crowd in excess of 60,000 consisted largely of maroon.
It didn’t make a difference for the Commanders, who lost the game 30-13. But that may have had something to do with the loss of backup quarterback Marcus Mariota to a knee injury, which pressed seventh-round rookie Athan Kaliakmanis into extended duty.
Commanders quarterback Marcus Mariota is believed to have an MCL sprain. That increases the urgency to get starter Jayden Daniels back from a dislocated elbow.
The Commanders are hopeful, we’re told, that Daniels will be able to play next weekend against the Giants.
One key factor will be Daniels’s ability to fully participate in practice. He got some team reps this week, when he was limited in practice on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.
If neither Daniels nor Mariota can go, seventh-round rookie Athan Kaliakmanis will get his first career start. It was a little rough at first, but a 47-yard touchdown pass to receiver Treylon Burks cut the score to 17-13 in the third quarter.
It was all Colts after that, dropping the Commanders to 1-3. Sunday’s game against the 3-1 Giants becomes critical to any effort by the Commanders to turn things around.
The Commanders were down to their third-string quarterback today in London, and although rookie Athan Kaliakmanis showed some arm strength, it was the Colts’ running game that controlled the game.
Jonathan Taylor ran for two touchdowns, Daniel Jones ran for another, and the Colts beat the Commanders 30-13.
With first-string quarterback Jayden Daniels out because of an elbow injury, backup Marcus Mariota started for the Commanders. But Mariota had to leave in the first quarter with a knee injury, and that left it to Kaliakmanis to run the show the rest of the way.
Kaliakmanis did make some big plays, with completions of 48 and 47 yards as well as an 87-yard touchdown called back by a penalty, but he couldn’t do enough and the Colts controlled the game throughout.
Mariota wasn’t the only Commanders player lost to injury. Commanders wide receiver Jaylin Lane had to be carted off the field after suffering an ankle injury on a kickoff return and was quickly ruled out for the rest of the game.
The Colts improve to 2-2 with the win, but questions remain about Jones, who was not impressive throwing the ball. Jones went 19-for-34 for 143 yards, with no touchdown passes, an interception and a lost fumble.
The Commanders fall to 1-3, and they’re in a tough place, with no word yet on who their starting quarterback will be when they face the Giants next week. If Daniels can’t return to the field and return to the level of play he showed as a rookie two years ago, the Commanders’ season could spiral in a hurry.
The Commanders are struggling, and quarterback Marcus Mariota isn’t coming back to save them.
Mariota was confirmed out for the rest of today’s game against the Colts after suffering a knee injury early in the game.
According to the NFL Network broadcast, Commanders head coach Dan Quinn said Mariota re-injured the MCL in his right knee, which previously had to be surgically repaired in 2022.
It’s not clear how serious the injury is, but Quinn said the team is “gutted” for Mariota.
Seventh-round rookie Athan Kaliakmanis is now in at quarterback for the Commanders, and he’s playing about the way you’d expect a third-string seventh-round rookie to play. He’s currently 6-for-14 for 33 yards with an interception that set up Jonathan Taylor’s second touchdown of the game in the third quarter.
It’s 17-6 Colts in the third quarter, and this one could get ugly for the Commanders.
The Commanders’ offense is down to its third-string quarterback, and it shows.
Rookie Athan Kaliakmanis is now running Washington’s offense after Marcus Mariota exited today’s game with a knee injury. Starter Jayden Daniels is not active today because of an elbow injury. The Colts lead 10-6 at halftime.
The offense, which was moving the ball well with Mariota, has sputtered with Kaliakmanis. It hasn’t been all his fault; there have been major protection breakdowns that have had Kaliakmanis throwing under pressure.
The Colts’ offense hasn’t been very good, either, and doesn’t have a third-string quarterback to blame. Starter Daniel Jones has looked mostly awful today, although the Colts did score on one drive, with Jonathan Taylor running for a touchdown. That drive was aided by a highly questionable unnecessary roughness penalty on Washington’s Amik Robertson after the Commanders appeared to have a third-down stop.
The Commanders are going to have to find a way to protect Kaliakmanis, and the Colts have to hope that Jones can shake off his ugly start.
The Commanders are down to their third-string quarterback.
Second-string quarterback Marcus Mariota started today against the Colts in London because Jayden Daniels has an elbow injury, but in the first quarter Mariota was injured and walked to the locker room, replaced by third-stringer Athan Kaliakmanis.
The Commanders said Mariota is questionable to return with a right knee injury, which he suffered when Colts defensive lineman Laiatu Latu landed on Mariota’s lower right leg and bent it awkwardly.
Kaliakmanis is a seventh-round rookie who played his college football at Rutgers and Minnesota.
Colts quarterback Daniel Jones has had an ugly start in London today.
On the Colts’ first play, Jones threw a pass that was batted down at the line of scrimmage. On the Colts’ second play, Jones was sacked by Washington’s Odafe Oweh, forcing a fumble that Oweh recovered.
The Commanders took over in great field position at the 21-yard line but couldn’t gain a first down and settled for a 31-yard field Drew Stevens goal.
It’s 3-0 Commanders, just two minutes into the game.
Commanders quarterback Marcus Mariota will not have wide receiver Terry McLaurin as a target in Sunday’s game against the Colts.
McLaurin is inactive for the Week 4 matchup in London. He was added to the injury report on Friday with a hamstring injury and he was ruled out 90 minutes ahead of kickoff.
The Colts will also be missing a wide receiver as Keenan Allen was ruled out on Saturday. Allen has a groin injury.
Running back Rachaad White, quarterback Jayden Daniels, wide receiver Luke McCaffrey, safety Nick Cross, linebacker Javontae Jean-Baptiste, and guard Sam Cosmi are also inactive for Washington.
The Colts made running back D.J. Giddens, defensive end George Gumbs, quarterback Riley Leonard, wide receiver Darius Slayton, and guard Dalton Tucker inactive along with Allen.
The Colts won’t have wide receiver Keenan Allen for Sunday’s game against the Commanders.
Allen was listed as questionable to play after missing Friday’s practice with a groin injury and the Colts announced that he has been ruled out on Saturday. He has 13 catches for 100 yards and a touchdown this season.
The Colts also announced that they have elevated wide receiver Nick Westbrook-Ikhine from the practice squad. He also played in last Sunday’s win over the Texans.
Westbrook-Ikhine joins Josh Downs, Laquon Treadwell, Deion Burks, Anthony Gould, Ashton Dulin, and Darius Slayton as receiver options in Allen’s absence. Dulin is also listed as questionable and Slayton has not played since signing with the Colts last month.
