Chris Ballard Encouraged by Ryan Kelly’s Recovery

When Ryan Kelly went down this preseason his prognosis seemed bleak, but general manager Chris Ballard thinks he’ll be back sooner rather than later.

We learned a lot from new general manager Chris Ballard today as he gave several updates on the status of his team.

The biggest bombshell of Chris Ballard’s press conference was the announcement that Andrew Luck would be out for Week 1, which had been speculated for the last couple of weeks. He also announced that Scott Tolzien would be the Week 1 starter after he cut Stephen Morris.

Ballard did actually produce some good news in this press conference when he said he expects center Ryan Kelly to only miss a “couple weeks”.

The initial reports suggested Kelly could miss up to eight regular season games after he was forced to undergo surgery to repair a bone in his foot. But Chris Ballard told the media that he thinks Kelly is “close” to returning, which would be extremely ahead of schedule.

Next: Colts Announce Full List of Roster Cuts

Brian Schwenke was among the cuts this weekend as the Colts shaved their roster down to 53 players.

Schwenke had been struggling with a sore ankle during the entirety of training camp, which could explain why he was cut. However, Ryan Kelly’s quick recovery could have also played a part in moving on from a veteran backup center that may not be needed.

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The Colts will still likely have to start undrafted rookie Deyshawn Bond while Kelly is out. This could be a major problem for the first couple of weeks, but getting Kelly back soon would be a huge boost for this injury-depleted roster.