Jonathan Taylor Fantasy Football News | Shark Bites

Colts RB Jonathan Taylor (ankle) has been ruled out for Thursday night's game vs. the Broncos. He was always a long shot to play on the short week. Taylor's injury reportedly isn't serious, so he should have a shot to return for Week 6. JT's absence in Denver will leave the Colts with RBs Nyheim Hines, Deon Jackson and Phillip Lindsay, who's expected to be elevated from the practice squad. When Taylor missed Week 12 of the 2020 season, Hines played 65% of the offensive snaps and handled 10 carries and 10 targets.

The Colts still consider RB Jonathan Taylor (ankle, toe) "up in the air" for Thursday night's game vs. the Broncos, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport said Wednesday morning. Taylor is hoping to play, and it sounds like he'll come down to a game-time decision.

Colts HC Frank Reich isn't ruling RB Jonathan Taylor (ankle) out for Thursday night's game vs. the Broncos just yet. Taylor is hoping to go through pregame warmups before making the final call. "You want to use as much time as possible to see," Taylor said. "On a short week you have to use all the time that you have." We'll see how Indianapolis lists him on tomorrow's final injury report.

ESPN's Adam Schefter reports that further testing on the injured ankle of Colts RB Jonathan Taylor came back negative and that Taylor "has a chance" to play Thursday night against the Broncos. We'll track his progress throughout the short week. Nyheim Hines obviously isn't a direct replacement for the much larger Taylor but would be our top fantasy bet in that backfield if Taylor misses the game.

Scans on RB Jonathan Taylor's injured ankle "came back clean," according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. "But TBD on availability given the short turnaround," Rapoport adds. It sounds like Taylor avoided a significant ankle injury -- but that he's iffy for Thursday night's game vs. the Broncos. We'll keep a close eye on his status over the next few days.

Update: ESPN's Adam Schefter adds that Taylor "has a chance" to play against Denver.

NFL Network's Ian Rapoport hears that the "belief" is that Colts RB Jonathan Taylor's ankle injury is "not overly serious, nothing major, nothing that will keep him off the field for a while." Rapoport does insinuate that Taylor might not be available for Thursday night's game vs. the Broncos. But consider it good news if he ends up missing just 1 game. We should learn more later today. Taylor endured a quiet fantasy outing -- 43 total yards on 20 carries and 1 catch -- before Sunday's injury.

Colts RB Jonathan Taylor got his left ankle rolled up on during Sunday's loss to the Titans and "will have tests imminently to make sure there is no major damage," according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. The schedule will do Taylor no favors, with the Colts taking on the Broncos on Thursday night. We'll update Taylor's status as soon as we know more. If he can't play vs. Denver, Indianapolis would be down to RBs Nyheim Hines, Deon Jackson and D'Vonte Price.

Update: The Colts "fear" a high-ankle sprain for Taylor, according to The Athletic's Zak Keefer.

Colts RB Jonathan Taylor (toe) isn’t listed on the final Week 4 injury report. He was a full participant in Thursday and Friday’s practices after sitting out on Wednesday with what reported as soreness. Taylor should be ready for his usual workload vs. the Titans on Sunday.

After sitting out on Wednesday, Colts RB Jonathan Taylor (toe) put in a full practice on Thursday. Reportedly dealing with soreness rather than an actual injury, Taylor should be ready for his usual workload vs. the Titans this weekend.

Colts RB Jonathan Taylor didn't practice on Wednesday and is on the injury report with a toe. NFL Network's Tom Pelissero hears that Taylor had "some soreness" coming out of the Chiefs game but that his absence was precautionary. "He'll be ready to roll" vs. the Titans, a source told Pelissero. Taylor can stay penciled into fantasy lineups for now, but we'll continue to keep an eye on his health.

Colts RB Jonathan Taylor got 21 carries in Sunday's upset win over the Chiefs but turned that into just 71 yards. He added 3 catches for 20 yards among 5 targets, which tied Alec Pierce for 3rd on the team. RB Nyheim Hines ranked 2nd in targets -- trailing only WR Michael Pittman -- and secured 5 catches for 23 yards. Hines continued to see minimal rushing work, logging only 3 carries against K.C. Next up for Taylor is the Titans, who allowed him just 64 and 70 rushing yards in 2 meetings last season -- both Tennessee victories.

Colts RB Jonathan Taylor carried just 9 times in Sunday's surprising 24-0 beatdown at the hands of the Jaguars. Taylor did manage 54 yards on those attempts, averaging 6.0 per run. He also led Nyheim Hines in routes for the 2nd straight game, though Hines closed that gap some and beat Taylor 5-1 in targets. Ultimately, it was a frustrating day for a player you probably expected to lead your Week 2 efforts. But there's no reason to worry about Taylor.

If HC Frank Reich was considering shaving any portion off RB Jonathan Taylor's role this season, then he totally forgot about it in Week 1. Taylor claimed 31 of Indianapolis' 34 RB rushes in the tie with Houston, as well as 7 targets. That tied for 2nd on the team and edged Nyheim Hines by 1. Taylor racked up 161 yards and a TD on the ground, adding 4 catches for 14 yards. Hines proved efficient as a receiver, catching all 6 of his targets for 50 yards to rank 2nd on the team in both categories. But he gained just 4 yards on 3 rushes and still played too small a role to be trustworthy in starting lineups for most fantasy football formats. Both players likely saw their Week 1 target counts inflated by QB Matt Ryan's 50 pass attempts.

Colts HC Frank Reich wants a more balanced offense this season after ranking 28th in pass rate last year. "You don’t see teams that have this ground-and-pound run game win championships,” Reich said. “You just don’t. I’m sure it’s happened with one or two teams, but our best formula is to be balanced." Reich also conceded that it will mean fewer touches for RB Jonathan Taylor. "I’m not saying he won’t lead the league in touches, because you never know how things are going to play out. But I almost don’t want him to," he said of Taylor. “The goal is not to lead the league in rushing. The goal is not to make him the MVP of the league. The goal is to win championships." Taylor easily led the league with 332 carries last year -- 25 more than anyone else. So he can afford to lose some and still be a fantasy stud. More passing, of course, would be good news for QB Matt Ryan, WR Michael Pittman and the rest of the Colts' pass catchers.

Colts HC Frank Reich “would like to alleviate some of the load on [Jonathan] Taylor’s shoulders,” per beat writer George Bremer. (To be clear, these are Bremer's words -- not Reich's.) Taylor led the league with 332 rush attempts last year — 25 ahead of #2 Najee Harris. With Matt Ryan in town, the thought is this offense goes slightly more pass heavy. We do project a smaller workload for Taylor, but the decline is negligible. The 3rd-year back remains a top-2 fantasy RB.

Colts QB Matt Ryan impressed coaches, teammates and the media with his play and leadership this offseason. “Matt was unbelievable,” HC Frank Reich said. “Really, A-Z, he did everything right. Just great leadership, great play. I mean, the whole way he took command … I knew he was good, but his accuracy is insane." OC Marcus Brady said Ryan is "damn near a coach on the field." And rookie WR Alec Pierce said, "He could basically run this offense and this team by himself." We'd expect the 14-year veteran to impress in the intangibles department. But, by all accounts, Ryan's arm strength and accuracy were excellent over the past few months. He's still not an exciting fantasy asset in a run-first offense and without rushing upside. But Ryan's arrival could be a boost for the Colts' skill-position players.