Colts LB Shaquille Leonard had back surgery Tuesday and will miss the rest of the season. The operation was reportedly successful, so he should have time to get ready for 2023. In the meantime, Zaire Franklin and Bobby Okereke should be locked in as Indy's full-time LBs the rest of this season.

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Colts LB Shaquille Leonard will play Sunday against the Commanders, though he's not yet going full time. "He’s ahead of schedule, but not quite there yet so he will be on a pitch count," HC Frank Reich told the Indianapolis Star. "We feel he is the best defensive player in the league. Our goal is to get him out there for 100 percent of the snaps as soon as we can, but we’re just not quite there yet." Leonard is coming off surgery for a broken nose, as well as a concussion. That followed a slow start to the year coming off June back surgery. It's tough to know just how many snaps Leonard will play, but we've boosted Zaire Franklin to full playing time and moved him way up the Week 8 IDP rankings. He played 100% in the 1 game that has included Leonard so far this year (Week 4).

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Colts LB Shaquille Leonard practiced in full Wednesday and was listed only for the back issue, which was the June surgery whose recovery kept him out to open the season. It's good news that the team isn't listing his broken nose that required more recent surgery. Leonard's inactivity in the wake of that kept HC Frank Reich from playing him in last week's loss at Tennessee, despite full practices leading up to the weekend. Leonard seems to be on track to return for this Sunday's game against Washington. That would likely take playing time away from IDP revelation Zaire Franklin. We'll watch for word on whether Leonard will immediately assume a full-time role.

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