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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 He has not rescinded his trade request ahead of the Oct. 31 deadline.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.
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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.

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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.