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Stephen Holder, ESPN
INDIANAPOLIS — The Colts are dealing with mixed injury news regarding three of their most important offensive players heading into Sunday’s game against the Titans.
Quarterback Anthony Richardson (oblique) is preparing to return to the lineup while receiver Michael Pittman Jr. (back) is surprisingly questionable and running back Jonathan Taylor (ankle) has been ruled out.
Richardson, who missed last week’s loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, is on track to play after participating in the past three practices. Coach Shane Steichen said Richardson “had huge strides this week, for sure.”
Richardson was seen throwing on the run this week and making aggressive movements during practices, something he did not do during the portions of practice last week that were open to media. He also took a majority of the snaps with the first-team offense, according to a team source. Backup Joe Flacco handled all the starter’s reps in last week’s practices.
Meanwhile, in a surprising development, Pittman practiced Friday after news surfaced earlier this week that he was facing a potential multigame absence because of a back injury. Pittman has been dealing with an unspecified back issue for several weeks, but the problem became exacerbated in the Jacksonville game.
Earlier in the week, a team source indicated that placing Pittman on injured reserve was discussed, though not ultimately decided upon. Two days later, Pittman was catching passes and running routes during individual drills in practice. He has not been ruled out for Sunday.
“I want to be out there for everybody in [the locker room],” Pittman said. “So, we’ll see what happens. But nothing’s guaranteed. Everything is kind of still on the table.”
Said Steichen: “He’s feeling really good, so we’ll see where that goes.”
Pittman has been the team’s leading receiver in each of the past three seasons, with a career-high 1,152 receiving yards in 2023. But he has perhaps been slowed by the back injury this season. He has his fewest receptions per game (4.4) since his rookie season in 2020.
Taylor, the NFL’s 2021 rushing champion, will miss his second consecutive game with an ankle sprain after not practicing for a second straight week, according to Steichen. Backup Trey Sermon is expected to start in his place.