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INDIANAPOLIS – After a trio of limited practices in his first week back from IR for his neck injury he sustained in Pittsburgh, Colts starting defensive tackle and captain DeForest Buckner is ready for more work this week, Colts head coach Shane Steichen told reporters Thursday.
Buckner has not played since that Week 9 road matchup in Pittsburgh, during which he felt neck discomfort mid-game and underwent tests and was cleared to continue playing. He came into the team facility for a workout that Wednesday ahead of the team’s trip to Berlin and said he’d lost strength in the left side of his body. Buckner couldn’t do a single pushup.
Eventually, he was diagnosed with a herniated disc and a compressed nerve in his neck. During his time on IR, Buckner flew to Panama for stem cell injections to help speed up the healing process. When he spoke to reporters last week for the first time since his injury, Buckner was noncommittal on the prospect of returning for his first possible game back last Sunday in Seattle, and on Friday, Steichen told reporters the team had opted not to activate the starting defensive tackle off IR.
It’s not clear yet at what level Buckner practiced Thursday – the team’s first practice ahead of its Monday Night Football contest against the 49ers – but a full practice would point to a progression in his workload and would see to elevate the prospect he might return – potentially pivotal in a week the Colts defense will have to manage San Francisco’s dual-threat playmaker Christian McCaffery.
Steichen also said Thursday that neither starting cornerback Sauce Gardner, nor offensive tackle Bernhard Raimann, would practice to start the week. Gardner suffered a calf injury two plays into the Colts’ Nov. 30 loss to the Texans. In the days after, the Colts opted not to place Garnder on IR, indicating their hopes he’d miss less than four full games. Sunday’s loss in Seattle was the starting corner’s second missed contest since suffering the injury.
Raimann suffered an elbow injury on the Colts’ lone touchdown drive near the end of the first half, left the game and didn’t return to the lineup. He was seen Thursday on the sidelines during the Colts’ practice with a bulky brace on his right elbow.
“(Raimann) and (Gardner) won’t practice (today), but they’re both progressing really well,” Steichen said Thursday.
Steichen also told reporters Thursday that the Colts would be opening the 21-day practice windows of backup quarterback Anthony Richardson Sr. and safety Daniel Scott. Richardson was placed on IR days after the team’s Week 6 home matchup, hours before which he suffered a fractured orbital bone when an apparatus he’d attached a stretching band to broke and struck him in the face.
The injury required surgery, and it wasn’t until last week that the 2023 fourth-overall pick returned to the practice field in any form – though only to shadow the quarterbacks during individual throwing drills. Steichen told reporters Monday that he’d been cleared, in terms of the healing of the actual fracture, but the head coach clarified Thursday that Richardson was still dealing with some vision impairment in his right eye that he would have to manage. Richardson will not be cleared to return for Monday’s game, Steichen said.
Scott was placed on IR with a knee injury in Week 5 after playing the first four games of the season. He spent the entire 2023 and 2024 seasons on IR.
Joel A. Erickson and Nathan Brown cover the Colts all season. Get more coverage on IndyStarTV and with the Colts Insider newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Colts injury report: What Steichen said about Buckner, Raimann, Gardner
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Buckner has not played since that Week 9 road matchup in Pittsburgh, during which he felt neck discomfort mid-game and underwent tests and was cleared to continue playing. He came into the team facility for a workout that Wednesday ahead of the team’s trip to Berlin and said he’d lost strength in the left side of his body. Buckner couldn’t do a single pushup.
Eventually, he was diagnosed with a herniated disc and a compressed nerve in his neck. During his time on IR, Buckner flew to Panama for stem cell injections to help speed up the healing process. When he spoke to reporters last week for the first time since his injury, Buckner was noncommittal on the prospect of returning for his first possible game back last Sunday in Seattle, and on Friday, Steichen told reporters the team had opted not to activate the starting defensive tackle off IR.
It’s not clear yet at what level Buckner practiced Thursday – the team’s first practice ahead of its Monday Night Football contest against the 49ers – but a full practice would point to a progression in his workload and would see to elevate the prospect he might return – potentially pivotal in a week the Colts defense will have to manage San Francisco’s dual-threat playmaker Christian McCaffery.
Steichen also said Thursday that neither starting cornerback Sauce Gardner, nor offensive tackle Bernhard Raimann, would practice to start the week. Gardner suffered a calf injury two plays into the Colts’ Nov. 30 loss to the Texans. In the days after, the Colts opted not to place Garnder on IR, indicating their hopes he’d miss less than four full games. Sunday’s loss in Seattle was the starting corner’s second missed contest since suffering the injury.
Raimann suffered an elbow injury on the Colts’ lone touchdown drive near the end of the first half, left the game and didn’t return to the lineup. He was seen Thursday on the sidelines during the Colts’ practice with a bulky brace on his right elbow.
“(Raimann) and (Gardner) won’t practice (today), but they’re both progressing really well,” Steichen said Thursday.
Steichen also told reporters Thursday that the Colts would be opening the 21-day practice windows of backup quarterback Anthony Richardson Sr. and safety Daniel Scott. Richardson was placed on IR days after the team’s Week 6 home matchup, hours before which he suffered a fractured orbital bone when an apparatus he’d attached a stretching band to broke and struck him in the face.
The injury required surgery, and it wasn’t until last week that the 2023 fourth-overall pick returned to the practice field in any form – though only to shadow the quarterbacks during individual throwing drills. Steichen told reporters Monday that he’d been cleared, in terms of the healing of the actual fracture, but the head coach clarified Thursday that Richardson was still dealing with some vision impairment in his right eye that he would have to manage. Richardson will not be cleared to return for Monday’s game, Steichen said.
Scott was placed on IR with a knee injury in Week 5 after playing the first four games of the season. He spent the entire 2023 and 2024 seasons on IR.
Joel A. Erickson and Nathan Brown cover the Colts all season. Get more coverage on IndyStarTV and with the Colts Insider newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Colts injury report: What Steichen said about Buckner, Raimann, Gardner
Continue reading...
