Doyel: QB Anthony Richardson's concussion was the news but Ryan Kelly's could be wors

[JAFF]

Doyel: QB Anthony Richardson's concussion was the news but Ryan Kelly's could be worse

INDIANAPOLIS – Ryan Kelly suffered a concussion, too.

Maybe you missed it. Maybe that’s our fault. Maybe it’s mine. We were so overwhelmed by the news Sunday that Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson had suffered a concussion in the first half of the Colts’ 31-20 victory at Houston, we mostly glossed over – OK, we mostly ignored – the same injury in the same half suffered by the guy who snaps him the ball.

You can understand. We live in a star culture, and there is no bigger star in this town than the quarterback of the Indianapolis Colts. And when that star leaves his second NFL game with a concussion that in real time nobody saw – nobody even suspected – it’s a big deal.


Doyel from Sunday: Anthony Richardson was concussed by a hit everyone missed

The details of Kelly’s concussion are even more mysterious than those involving Richardson, because with Richardson we can go back and see the collision that likely caused the damage. It was his second touchdown run, when he was cruising into the end zone as Houston safety M.J. Stewart blasted him with a helmet-to-helmet hit, the back of Richardson’s helmet bouncing off the turf in Houston.


In hindsight the hit was clearly violent – doubly so, because of the hit and the way his head slammed into the turf – though everybody missed it in real time. Which is kind of scary.

But with Kelly, we have no clue when it happened. Could’ve been any of the dozens of collisions he endures every game in the trenches. Which is even scarier, when you think about it.

Assuming you're thinking about Ryan Kelly.


Yes, Anthony Richardson's concussion was a big deal

This wasn’t an IndyStar thing, OK? It was everywhere. Find a newspaper or website and search for references to Anthony Richardson’s concussion in Houston. Now look for references to Ryan Kelly’s concussion. See my point?

But I do work for the IndyStar, and I did contribute to what you’re about to read:


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In the hours after it ended we posted 10 stories about the game, including seven stories devoted to Richardson’s concussion. We posted one story about Kelly. Of the seven stories about Richardson, one focused on his immediate future under the headline: “What are the steps for Anthony Richardson (concussion) to return to play?”

No mention of Ryan Kelly, who faces the same steps as Richardson.


It’s discouraging how the world mostly glossed over – OK, mostly ignored – such a serious injury suffered by anyone on the Colts, much less a player as good (three Pro Bowls) and popular as Ryan Kelly. Hey, pointing a finger at myself here too. My column after the game was about Richardson’s concussion, and how in this day and age of quarterback importance and concussion awareness, nobody had a clue Richardson might’ve been hurt on a play where his head suffered two traumatic blows.

Do this for me: Put down your phone for a second and pull up the story on your laptop. Hold down the “ctrl” and “F” keys together. Ctrl-F is how you “find” something in Chrome or Microsoft Windows. You have a Mac? Can’t help you. That thing speaks its own language, but I can assure you of this: Whatever your computer preference, you won’t find the words “Ryan” or “Kelly” in my story.

Shame on me. Especially considering the following:

This was Kelly’s second NFL concussion, and his first one was bad. It happened in the 11th game of the 2017 season, and after he missed three games, the Colts shut him down for the final two. One concussion, five games? That’s Tua Tagovailoa territory, who missed five games last season. And Tua suffered two concussions, missing two games after he was knocked out cold against Cincinnati and then the final three games after suffering another one against Green Bay, where the back of his head bounced off the ground, similar to the way Richardson’s helm—

Jeez, Gregg. Can you stop talking about Richardson’s concussion in a story about Ryan Kelly?

Besides, the Colts are going through it now. Two games into the season, four Colts have appeared on the injury report with a concussion. It started with linebacker Shaq Leonard, who suffered his during the joint practice with Chicago on Aug. 16; he hasn’t missed a game. In the opener against Jacksonville, tight end Drew Ogletree became the Colts’ second player with a concussion. He cleared the NFL’s concussion protocol in time to play Sunday at Houston, but the Colts left him inactive.

Then came Sunday, when two more Colts were added to the concussion list. One was the team’s franchise quarterback. The other was not.

Indianapolis Colts center Ryan Kelly (78) warms up on the field Sunday, Jan. 8, 2023, before a game against the Houston Texans at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
But this was Ryan Kelly's third concussion

Not to belabor the point, but this happened after the game Sunday in Houston.

Reporters traveling with the Colts asked coach Shane Steichen 11 questions, total, according to transcripts provided after the game. Six of those 11 questions were about Anthony Richardson’s concussion.

Times Steichen was asked about Ryan Kelly: Zero.

Backup quarterback Gardner Minshew II was asked six questions – four about Richardson, zero about Kelly.

Hell, even Houston quarterback C.J. Stroud was asked about Richardson’s concussion. Nobody asked for his thoughts about Ryan Kelly.

Richardson’s future is of the utmost importance, but in the real-world kind of way Kelly’s concussion is more problematic. It’s the second of his NFL career, and third since his senior season at Alabama, when he suffered a concussion against Texas A&M on Oct. 17, 2015. He played the next week against Tennessee.

According to a study earlier this year at the University of Oxford – reportedly the largest study of its kind – “three concussions seems to be a turning point for brain issues, and further injury worsens symptoms.”

According to a Harvard study of college football players, offensive linemen were more likely to suffer concussions than any position group. Not what you’d expect, given the way we more easily notice what happens in the open field, where the collisions look worse. But the plight of Hall of Fame center Mike Webster of the Steelers – who was never diagnosed with a concussion in 220 career games but whose brain was found to have the disease we now call chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) – has informed our awareness of the violence in the trenches, of the repeated smashing of heads that take its terrible toll.

Was it a terrible smash to the head Sunday that sent Ryan Kelly to the sideline, where he self-reported his concussion symptoms? Or was it just another play in the trenches, remarkable only for the diagnosis delivered later?

Or did you – did I – not find it remarkable at all?

[JAFF]

'Doing what I've always done': Colts RB Zack Moss returns and brings running game with him

INDIANAPOLIS — A running back doesn’t always have to be flashy to be effective.

Flash helps. A back who can turn any carry into a touchdown is a nightmare for defenses, the kind of problem who can change a game with a single cut.

In the absence of flash, though, an offense still needs somebody who can move the chains, do the dirty work that has often been left unfinished in Indianapolis this fall.

Colts Insider:Shane Steichen's fingerprints all over his first win as Colts head coach

Indianapolis Colts running back Zack Moss (21) runs in a touchdown Sunday, Sept. 17, 2023, during a game against the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium in Houston
The kind of work a guy like Zack Moss is more than willing to do.

“Even if you have a great quarterback, right?” Moss said. “You have to have some type of running game. It puts the defense in such a stressful position.”

The Colts didn’t have any type of running game outside of rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson in their loss to Jacksonville last week.


Forced to open the season without the services of disgruntled superstar Jonathan Taylor or an injured Moss, Indianapolis running backs produced just 25 yards on 16 carries, leaving the Colts offense stuck behind the chains in its season-opening loss, either by trapping Indianapolis in third-and-long situations or by failing to reach the chains in short-yardage situations.

Moss stepped into the gap Sunday.




And his presence transformed the offense, even if it took him a little while to get going. Moss picked up 88 yards on 18 carries, important yards for an offense that lost the game-breaking ability of Richardson to a concussion in just the second quarter.

More:Colts have few updates on QB Anthony Richardson's status following concussion Sunday


Once Richardson left the game, Moss was the Colts running attack in its entirety, the only player entrusted to carry the ball. The veteran back played 98% of the team’s snaps, an enormous workload few NFL running backs are asked to carry in the modern era.

The Colts badly needed Moss to hold up under the weight.




The team clearly did not trust its other two options, Deon Jackson and Jake Funk, to help shoulder the load, because of ineffectiveness in Jackson’s case and inexperience in the case of Funk, who has mostly been a special teamer in his short NFL career.

“Kind of struggled running the ball last week. I think that the offensive line took that personal,” backup quarterback Gardner Minshew said. “They had a great game. Zero sacks, ran the ball well and then Zack going in there and running as hard as he does, it certainly helps.”

Moss does not have Taylor’s breakaway speed, the suddenness it takes to break off a handful of explosive runs. The veteran’s longest carry against a Texans defense playing without its top three safeties was an 11-yard touchdown.

He can pick up the yards that are blocked, though. Creates a few extra on his own.

Yards a lot of NFL coaches and evaluators take for granted, at least until they go through a dud like the one the Colts running backs produced against Jacksonville.



“It was great to get Zack back out there running hard,” Colts head coach Shane Steichen said. “He was physical, saw the holes well, made some tight, tough runs inside to get a few extra yards.”

Moss wasn’t available for the opener.

He tried.

Handed a chance to be the starting running back right away by Taylor’s balky ankle and bitter standoff with the Colts front office, Moss broke his arm on the first day of full pads in training camp. He’d suffered the injury before, back in college; when the injury happened, Moss’s anger and frustration was evident.

The prognosis was six weeks, a timetable that gave him a shot at the season opener.

But Moss knew it’s a little more complicated than that. Rehabilitating a broken arm knocked him off the practice field for more than a month, robbed him of hundreds of snaps essential to the conditioning it takes to play NFL football.



“I didn’t want to rush anything,” Moss said. “The biggest thing was getting to a point where I’m not going to limit the team for any selfish reasons. Because I could’ve wanted to play and pushed it the first week, but it doesn’t make any sense to be selfish and limit the team if I don’t feel confident in my abilities and my play style.”

Moss still isn’t quite all the way back.

“It’s an ongoing thing, you’ve got to keep working on it, keep getting it strong,” Moss said. “Technically. You break a bone. I think it takes four or five weeks to heal, but then, in our game, you’re one shot away from reinjuring it at any time.”

He was healthy enough Sunday to give the Colts running game the professionalism it needed.

Acquired from the Bills last fall in the trade that sent Nyheim Hines to Buffalo, Moss has now proven he can be a team’s workhorse, first with 341 yards in the final four games in place of Taylor last season, then with Sunday’s performance against Houston.



Moss didn’t get those chances in Buffalo. For the time being, there is an opportunity in Indianapolis, and Moss is making the most of it.

“I think it’s always about where you go and opportunities, right? For me, in Buffalo, it was different, because our quarterback was already established, and that offense was totally different,” Moss said. “This offense is a run-first team. Coming out of college, I was at a run-first team, not a super pass-happy offense, so being here, it just feels like I’m back doing what I’ve always done.”

Maybe it’s not flashy.

But it was exactly what the Colts offense needed.

[omahacolt]

while i would surely rather have everyone healthy, i think french can be a fine fill in. as long as the other guys stay healthy around him, we shouldn't see much of a drop off

but these ravens might be a problem

[CletusPyle]

Ravens are reporting that AR is "likely out" for Sunday....since the Colts haven't said anything, why should we believe anything coming out of the crime capitol of the world?

[Oldcolt]

I think it would be shocking if AR played. I have to think that one of the big reasons AR has done so well is how prepared Steichen has gotten him. He seems to know the plays called inside and out, at least AR's calmness seems to say that. That has to be not only film study but repetitions on the practice field. He won't have a full week of that even if he was cleared tonight. Add to that that AR is a 21 year old with a brain injury-I think the Colts would be nuts to let him play Sunday. His development won't be hurt by sitting and watching a game.

[omahacolt]

Originally Posted by Oldcolt

I think it would be shocking if AR played. I have to think that one of the big reasons AR has done so well is how prepared Steichen has gotten him. He seems to know the plays called inside and out, at least AR's calmness seems to say that. That has to be not only film study but repetitions on the practice field. He won't have a full week of that even if he was cleared tonight. Add to that that AR is a 21 year old with a brain injury-I think the Colts would be nuts to let him play Sunday. His development won't be hurt by sitting and watching a game.

if the doctors say he can play then i would understand them letting him play. i wouldn't really question it at all


that said, i would completely understand holding him out as well

[Brylok]

Richardson and Kelly are both out for the Ravens game. Came from Ian Rappaport.

[JAFF]

Per PFT

It looks like Gardner Minshew will make his first start of the season on Sunday.

Colts rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson is not practicing on Friday while in concussion protocol, according to multiple reporters on the scene. With Richardson missing all three days of practice this week, Minshew is likely to start against Baltimore in Week 3.

Richardson suffered his concussion during the first half of last week’s win over Houston. Minshew took over and finished 19-of-23 for 171 yards with a touchdown.

Minshew has started 24 career games — 20 for Jacksonville in 2019 and 2020 and then four for Philadelphia over the last two seasons. In five appearances with two starts last year, Minshew completed 58 percent of his passes for 663 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions.

Also notable, Colts center Ryan Kelly was not practicing on Friday while still in the concussion protocol. That indicates Minshew will be working with a backup center against a solid Baltimore defense.

Indianapolis’ full injury report with game statuses will be released later on Friday.

[DragonTails]

Originally Posted by Brylok

Richardson and Kelly are both out for the Ravens game. Came from Ian Rappaport.

This really sucks. I am considering not going to the game if I can sell my tickets.

No AR and a tropical storm looks to dump rain all day sunday. Oh, and the wife not feeling good. But mainly the rain is the biggest PIA.

Any one want cheap tickets on seat geek? lol

[nate505]

That sucks, as this season was mostly about watching AR's development for me, though I like Minshew so I'll definitely be watching.

Hopefully he's more being held out due to the lack of practice before the game and not because the concussion is really bad, though I get any concussion sucks.