There is some positive news on the Colts’ Thursday injury report.
Rookie tight end Tyler Warren and receiver Josh Downs both returned to the field after they did not participate on Wednesday.
Warren is dealing with a toe injury and was limited in the session. Downs has an ankle injury and was upgraded to full.
Defensive end Laiatu Latu (hamstring) was also upgraded from limited to full.
However, linebacker Joe Bachie was added to the report as a non-participant with a quad injury.
Offensive tackle Bernhard Raimann (illness) remained limited on Thursday.
Cornerback Charvarius Ward (concussion), running back Tyler Goodson (elbow), and linebacker Austin Ajiake (throat) all remained full.
While defensive tackle Grover Stewart did not practice on Thursday, he was a resting veteran.
Titans quarterback Cam Ward has been sacked an NFL-high 11 times this season, which is not what any team wants to see after drafting a quarterback first overall. Titans coach Brian Callahan says a good running game will help keep Ward upright.
“Some of the commitment to trying to run the ball is the defenses we were playing,” Callahan said, via ESPN. “How do you keep the defense from teeing off? You’ve got to be able to run the football and put yourself in more manageable spots on third down, in particular.”
Callahan said the Titans need to do a better job of not putting Ward in obvious passing situations.
“We’ve put ourselves in some tough third downs over the course of these two games on a first-down sack or a penalty or things of that nature,” Callahan said.
The most important part of Ward avoiding sacks will come from Ward himself learning to recognize the pass rush and get rid of the football quickly. But Callahan thinks the running game can help Ward as well.
The Colts have an injury concern with one of their top offensive weapons.
Tight end Tyler Warren did not participate in Wednesday’s session with a toe injury, according to the team’s practice report.
Warren, the No. 14 overall pick in this year’s draft, currently leads the club with 11 receptions and 155 receiving yards. He’s also taken a couple of carries for 3 yards.
Warren did speak to the media in the locker room on Wednesday, which could be a positive sign for his potential availability. But that will be worth monitoring over the next couple of days.
Receiver Josh Downs (ankle) also did not practice on Wednesday.
Defensive end Laiatu Latu (hamstring) and offensive tackle Bernhard Raimann (illness) were both limited.
Cornerback Charvarius Ward (concussion), running back Tyler Goodson (elbow), and linebacker Austin Ajiake (throat) were all full participants.
If there were an injury report for coaches, Sean McVay would be on it.
Via the Associated Press, McVay said Monday that he tore his plantar fascia during Sunday’s win at Tennessee.
He didn’t specify the moment of the injury, but (per the AP) he “appeared to pull up awkwardly while moving to call a timeout” during the victory over the Titans.
“Foot’s good,” McVay said. “I did tear my plantar fascia, so yeah. Well, that’s a good thing, because I guess it allows you to heal a little faster. But I was being dramatic, limping around towards the end of the game, but the MRI confirmed I did that.
“Good news is I’m not playing. I’m just on the sidelines watching, so if I have a little cool limp to add some swag, then you’ll know why.”
In-game mobility can become important for head coaches, at certain times. Coaches often run down the sideline, for example, to call a timeout.
More than two years later, the Titans have made defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons whole.
Per a source with knowledge of the deal, Tennessee’s recent contract with Simmons paid him retroactively for the 17th game that wasn’t reflected in the “old money” calculation for his 2023 deal.
His fifth year option had been calculated to not include the 17th game, shorting him by $632,529. The net result was to reduce the intended new-money average from $23.5 million to $23.342 million.
The missing money was added to the deal by the Titans, we’re told, as an extra signing bonus, fixing the mistake that left that $632,529 out of his contract previously. This was not a contract extension, just an acknowledgement by the Titans that paying Simmons the $632,529 that had been omitted was the fair thing to do.
The gratuity is unprecedented, even though multiple players (Quinnen Williams, Josh Allen, Dexter Lawrence, e.g.) did extensions that didn’t include a 17th-game check in the calculation, thereby shrinking the intended new-money average.
Frankly, their agents had missed it. Simmons hired Athletes First before doing his current deal, and they prioritized rectifying the prior agent’s oversight.
It will be interesting to see whether other players who were inadvertently shorted the 17th check get the money they should have already gotten from their teams. Based on the new Simmons deal, any player whose 17th-game check wasn’t factored into the “old money” for his total deal based on a specific amount of “new money” has a case to make to recoup the cash, thanks to the precedent set by the Titans, Simmons, and his new agency.
