10/6 indystar

[JAFF]

Insider: Colts running back Jonathan Taylor is back, for now. That's all that has changed
Nate Atkins
Indianapolis Star


INDIANAPOLIS − Jonathan Taylor is here at the Colts facility on West 56th Street. He spoke in his first press conference since June and participated in his first practice since December.

This is all that has ultimately changed between the Colts and the All-Pro running back, who has been missing from this season so far. He is still on the Physically Unable to Perform List, for now, on Day 5 of a 21-day practice window. He has not rescinded his trade request ahead of the Oct. 31 deadline. But he is no longer away from the team.

"Listen," Taylor said when asked if he wants to remain a Colt, "like I said, I'm here right now."


Taylor will play Sunday against the Titans if he's healthy enough, which will be the daily question the rest of this season, as it has been since training camp opened and this standoff really began. He spent most of his 11-minute press conference Thursday talking about the importance of getting 100% healthy off the ankle surgery in January. He has the days marked down that he's missed from football − more than 290.

He refused to look beyond that current state of existence − healthy and here, for now − for him, for the Colts and for his future in this league.


"At the end of the day, if you're not healthy, you can't get on the field," Taylor said. "The No. 1 ability is availability."

Asked about playing Sunday, he said, "That's the question that we don't know."

Indianapolis Colts All-Pro running back Jonathan Taylor has returned to practice with the team, but how much he'll play this season remains a mystery.
GO DEEPER:Jonathan Taylor and the Colts were a perfect marriage. Can they avoid a messy divorce?



There are no guarantees to any of this. Whether Taylor participates Friday, or on Sunday, or next week, or gets traded is what we will have to play by ear. Because neither side has wanted to make guarantees to the other yet.


This all started when Taylor was easing his way back from a January surgery called arthroscopic debridement, a clean-up procedure that carries a two- to four-week return-to-play timeline, a source with knowledge of the operation told IndyStar. He was expecting to heal up and for an extension to be a formality entering a contract year, the way it was for Quenton Nelson, Shaquille Leonard, Braden Smith and others.

The Colts told him they wanted to see him get healthy and prove his fit in coach Shane Steichen's offense next to Anthony Richardson after last season's relative down year with 861 yards on 4.5 yards per carry. Taylor wanted some kind of commitment before he risked getting injured again, like he did three times on that ankle last year.

The Colts weren't willing to make a contract offer, and they weren't willing to promise that they wouldn't use the franchise tag in 2024 if he got through this season healthy. It made it hard for Taylor to believe a multi-year deal was something he could earn.

So, Taylor asked for a trade and mostly stayed away from the team, including during practices and games. The Colts kept him on the Physically Unable to Perform List with what general manager Chris Ballard called "pain in the ankle."

That decision provided a four-week window for Ballard to "get the waters as calm as they can" with Taylor, as owner Jim Irsay ordered, and to ensure his return to the field. Taylor became eligible to return Monday, so they opened his practice window, eight months after the initial surgery. Since Taylor's financial concerns started the rift, he was inclined to return once he risked fines of $252,000 per game week.

This is still a strained relationship with two sides that are trying to co-exist in a mutually beneficial way.

Taylor is a running back, so an injury can happen on any play. If he plays Sunday, he'll return to the site of the initial injury − against the Titans at Lucas Oil Field − on a turf that NFLPA research says is 69% more likely to cause a foot or ankle injury than on a grass field.

Colts news:Why the Colts won't switch to grass at Lucas Oil Stadium despite increase in injuries

Taylor is here, for now, but whether he will be on the field if an injury knocks him to less than 100% will be a question to monitor. Football is a game of pain, especially at running back, and this one just missed four games because of pain in his ankle.

"I don't think it matters on if I say I'm committed or not," Taylor said. "I'm here. If someone wasn't committed, they wouldn't be here.

"Right now, I'm here."


Taylor is looking to return to his 2021 form, when he won the rushing title with 1,811 yards, 18 touchdowns and 5.5 yards per carry. He'll try it in Steichen's scheme, behind an improved offensive line and with Richardson's rushing threat in the backfield, all with a quality back to spell him in Zack Moss. In a purely football sense, the settings are arguably as ideal for Taylor and the Colts as they have ever been.

But this hasn't been purely about football in some time.

If Taylor can bounce back, he could see a boost in his trade value. He could also see a boost in his market value, at which point his workload and new injuries could be risks to consider, as is how to tap into that market value if the Colts plan on using the franchise tag, which currently pays running backs just more than $10 million.

The Colts could still consider an extension, but the relationship will have to find a way to improve without that expectation in the meantime.

"This stuff happens, right?" Steichen said. "This stuff happens in football. It happens all around the league."

Taylor declined five different times to answer whether his goal was to remain with the franchise.

"It doesn't matter necessarily what I want," he said.

It isn't clear from the Collective Bargaining Agreement how many games Taylor needs to play to count this as an accrued season toward free agency. All that's clear is that he must return from the PUP List to the active roster.

So, he's here, for right now. But this isn't harmony.

It's strictly business.

[JAFF]

‘Relentless pursuit to be great’: How Zaire Franklin grew into a leadership role with the Colts
Chloe Peterson
Indianapolis Star


INDIANAPOLIS — Zaire Franklin is unrelenting.

No matter what, the sixth-year linebacker has an incessant need to get better every single day, every single week — something head coach Shane Steichen thinks sticks out about him.

“The one thing I’ve noticed about him since I’ve been around him is just his relentless pursuit to be great,” Steichen said. “He’s in this building all day every day, the way he practices with great energy and effort. He practices like he plays. He practices hard every day. He goes out, makes a ton of tackles, is always in the right spot, knows his formations. … He’s a heck of a football player.”


Franklin’s breakout season came in 2022, when fellow linebacker Shaq Leonard missed the majority of the season with various injuries.

More:Why Colts are playing Shaquille Leonard less and why they expect to increase his snaps

Franklin had 94 tackles in his first four seasons between 2018-21. He nearly doubled his career total in 2022 alone, racking up a franchise-record 167 tackles. That season solidified the Syracuse product as a leader in the Colts’ linebacker room.


“He’s been leading the defense hella good right now, he’s playing with hella determination,” linebacker E.J. Speed said. “... He’s out there hitting running backs and stuff, knocking them off their wiggle and making them think about running through the hole twice. The defense has really rallied behind him to create a culture that I think we can all stand behind.”

Franklin started the season with 18 tackles, a pass defended, and a forced fumble against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sept. 10. He continued his dominance in the next three weeks of play, registering NFL-leading 58 total tackles.


But Franklin doesn’t care about weekly accolades.

“It’s just a week-to-week league,” Franklin said. “Regardless if I’m No. 1 right now, my goal is to be No. 1 at the end. I don’t think they give you any awards or bonuses for being No. 1 for four weeks, it comes at the end. I’m just trying to maintain that level and keep making winning plays to help the team win.”

Indianapolis Colts linebacker Zaire Franklin (44) tackles Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Jamal Agnew (39), during a game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
A back injury briefly sidelined Franklin in the Colts’ recent 29-23 loss to the Rams on Sunday. He left the game with the injury late in the third quarter, but he managed to return in the fourth and still finished with double-digit tackles (12).

More:Why the Colts won't switch to grass at Lucas Oil Stadium despite increase in injuries

With 58 tackles through four games, Franklin is on pace to record 246 tackles this year, which would be an NFL single-season record and make him a lock for some postseason accolades.

The most important recognition Franklin could get, though, is from his fellow peers — and competitors.

“Last year, I achieved a lot and made a lot of plays, but for me, I just wanted to be stamped as one of the best linebackers in the league, one of the best defenders in the league,” Franklin said. “Awards and stuff don’t really mean as much to me as peer recognition. Having Aaron Donald come and tell me that he loved my game, that means a lot to me. I don’t know what else I would really need other than that … as I continue to grow and earn respect from my teammates and players, everything else is gonna come with.”