Colts head coach Shane Steichen isn’t shedding a lot of light on what’s going on between the team and running back Jonathan Taylor.
Steichen did little more than confirm the obvious about the disgruntled Taylor, which is that he’s with the team but not practicing.
“Right now, he’s on this football team,” Steichen said.
Asked what is keeping him from practicing, Steichen only said that Taylor is dealing with something and will be ready “when the medical staff clears him.”
Taylor, who is heading into the final year of his rookie contract, is unhappy with his pay and wants a raise. The Colts, recognizing how cheap running backs are in today’s NFL, see no reason to give a running back a raise, and certainly not one who’s coming off a season in which he missed six games with injuries and had career lows across the board statistically: Taylor’s carries, rushing yards, yards per carry, touchdowns, catches, receiving yards and yards per catch were all the lowest of his three-year career.
So Taylor is on the team “right now,” but whether he’ll be on the team when the season starts remains to be seen, and whether he and the Colts will find a mutually satisfactory solution to their current situation currently seems hard to picture.