Colts give up on Deon Cain

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - AUGUST 24: Duke Shelley #33 of the Chicago Bears tackles Deon Cain #11 of the Indianapolis Colts during the first quarter of the preseason game at Lucas Oil Stadium on August 24, 2019 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Bobby Ellis/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - AUGUST 24: Duke Shelley #33 of the Chicago Bears tackles Deon Cain #11 of the Indianapolis Colts during the first quarter of the preseason game at Lucas Oil Stadium on August 24, 2019 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Bobby Ellis/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

The Colts released him before Sunday’s game against the Dolphins, and then re-signed him to their practice squad. It’s a hard fall for a guy who had so much talent.

Deon Cain was a training camp warrior after being drafted in the sixth round out of Clemson in 2017. He made ridiculous catches, ran great routes, and turned heads. But then he tore his ACL in the first preseason game of that year, and he never recovered.

The Colts decided to release him from the active roster prior to the Colts taking on the Dolphins on Sunday. It was very surprising, considering the Colts had three injured receivers going into that game. But that just shows you what they think of him at this point.

Instead, they brought back Marcus Johnson to the active roster. Cain cleared waivers, and was signed to the practice squad. This is a fast fall for someone who had so much potential. Clearly his skills aren’t what they used to be, otherwise he’d still be with the team.

But moving on from Cain gives the Colts an interesting problem at receiver. They don’t have many healthy guys at all. It looks like against the Jaguars this week they will go with Zach Pascal, Johnson, and Chester Rogers. Everyone else is still too hurt to play.

Next. Despite workouts, Colts unlikely to make changes at kicker. dark

Devin Funchess is finally supposed to be back at practice this week. If he can get healthy before next week, that would be great. T.Y. Hilton has an outside shot at being healthy for that game as well. But clearly even these injuries weren’t enough for Cain to keep an opportunity going.