Colts Place CB D’Joun Smith on IR/Designated to Return

The NFL season is just a week old and already the Indianapolis Colts have been hit hard by the injury bug. Today they announced that rookie cornerback D’Joun Smith would placed on the IR-Designated to Return list with a knee injury.

The Colts elevated former Ball State CB Eric Patterson to the roster to replace Smith. Smith did not play in the season and was listed as inactive. By placing him on the return list, the team is hoping to get their third round pick back before the end of the season.

Smith will be down for at least the next eight weeks as he recovers from this knee injury. There hasn’t been any indication of the nature of the injury (whether he needs rest or surgery).

This move allows Smith to take his time getting healthy, but leaves the Colts dangerously thin at cornerback. Greg Toler is still dealing with a neck injury and hasn’t practiced since Week 2 of the preseason. Darius Butler injured his hip against the Bills and has yet to practice this week.

That leaves just Vontae Davis as the only proven player left to start. The Colts will likely use Jalil Brown and Sheldon Price to fill in the second starting spot and slot role this week. Luckily the Colts face an offense that would prefer to run the ball this week as the Jets don’t exactly have a QB capable of exploiting an obvious advantage.

While the Colts are going to be thin in the secondary, they could receive a boost to the pass rush with the possible return of Robert Mathis. As has been noted before, the best way to stop the pass is to never let the ball leave the pocket.

Either way, the Colts might be scraping the bargain barrel for a cornerback in the coming days and weeks.

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