Colts Thursday Injury Report: Toler and Ballard DNP

The Indianapolis Colts updated their injury report from Thursday with no considerable new changes, as things look very similar to how they did yesterday.

Aug 22, 2015; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Indianapolis Colts defensive lineman Robert Mathis watches the game from the bench area during a game against the Chicago Bears at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

Both starting cornerback Greg Toler (neck) and running back Vick Ballard (hamstring) did not practice, while Nate Irving (knee), Robert Mathis (achilles), Sheldon Price (knee), D’Joun Smith (knee) were all limited participants Thursday.

While Toler appears highly unlikely to play Sunday, it’s looking like some of his cornerback counterparts in Price and Smith were held out purely for precautionary reasons.

That should be the case anyways, as the Colts would be incredibly thin otherwise with just Vontae Davis, Darius Butler, and Jalil Brown as the team’s only healthy cornerbacks. The fact that the team has yet to add any additional cornerbacks this week bodes well for both Smith and Price’s chances of playing on Sunday.

Defensive coordinator Greg Manusky seemed confident in his cornerback group to go out and play at a high level on Sunday:

"“I mean just going into the game, we’re confident with Darius (Butler), D’Joun (Smith), (Sheldon) Pricey, Jalil (Brown), and of course Vontae (Davis),” said Manusky on Thursday. “We’ll have those corners up, and we’ll go out there, perform, and play like we have in the preseason games.”"

Otherwise, it looks as though Mathis could play this Sunday in a limited pass rushing capacity, while Irving may be available as backup inside linebacker depth in a pinch. However, my guess is neither one of the aforementioned duo will be fully unleashed until later this month.

What is clear though is that the Colts will be leaning heavily on two Stanford rookie defensive lineman David Parry and Henry Anderson, who are both expected to make their first career starts on Sunday.

Despite their lack of experience, Manusky firmly believes all of the Colts talented defensive rookies are ready for their professional debut against Buffalo:

"“Yeah, they got to be (ready),” said Manusky. “I think that’s why we drafted them where we did. Right now, we’re excited about those young guys. They really competed during training camp and the preseason games, and they did a great job. That’s why they’re here. We’re looking forward to them going out on a Sunday.”“Good, bad, or indifferent, and they’re playing in their first National Football League game, and I think they’ll be fine with it.”"

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