Colts: Indy possibly getting reinforcements at right time after slew of injuries to stars

The Colts are getting healthy in other areas after being decimated elsewhere.

Almost all teams in the NFL are feeling the effects of a delayed start to training camp and canceled preseason, as a legion of players have gone down with injuries through the first three weeks.

The Colts fall right under that category. Running back Marlon Mack and safety Malik Hooker were both lost for the year with a torn Achilles. Unfortunately, they weren’t the only players on Indianapolis who sustained serious injuries. Wide receivers Parris Campbell (knee) and Michael Pittman Jr. (calf) have both undergone surgery (or will undergo surgery) and will be sidelined indefinitely.

To say the Colts cannot afford to watch another key player go down would be an understatement, but fans will be thrilled to hear that reinforcements could be on the way for their Week 4 clash against the undefeated Chicago Bears.

According to head coach Frank Reich, Indianapolis is expected to see three players — cornerback Rock Ya-Sin (illness), tight end Trey Burton (calf) and defensive tackle Sheldon Day (knee) — return to the practice field this week.

"“Rock (Ya-Sin) will be back at practice this week,” Reich told reporters on Monday. “We’ll evaluate him. I’m not sure status as we go, but at some point he’ll be back to practice this week. We’ll see and we’ll be optimistic and hopefully we can get him going. Trey Burton and Sheldon Day – same thing. They are eligible to come back. We’ll get them back at practice, evaluate how they’re doing and make the roster decisions from there.”"

A return to practice obviously doesn’t finalize their status for Week 4, but this disclosure truly couldn’t have come at a better time for the Colts.

Leading up to Sunday’s game against the Jets, Reich revealed that Ya-Sin had a procedure done to address a non-football illness. There were next to no details provided and this latest update suggests Indy will continue to keep them under wraps. Xavier Rhodes and TJ Carrie have performed tremendously in the 2019 second-round pick’s absence and his impending return will only make their lives easier.

Burton, meanwhile, suffered a calf injury in the latter stages of training camp and was ultimately placed on injured reserve to start the season after further testing. It remains to be seen if he’ll be cleared to face his former team, but a return to practice bodes well for his chances to do just that. Remember, he was set to be a focal point of the offense once a upon a time.

Mo Alie-Cox seems to have locked down the No. 1 tight end spot in light of his stellar start to the season — he has 10 receptions for 181 yards and a touchdown — so Burton will likely spell him when he needs a breather and rotate with Jack Doyle in two TE sets.

Then, we have Day, who missed most of camp after undergoing a knee procedure late in the offseason and was placed on the injured reserve list to start the year. The Indianapolis native will provide some much needed depth on the interior defensive line as starters DeForest Buckner and Grover Stewart have both played over 90% of the defensive snaps so far.

After weeks of seemingly endless discouraging news on the injury front, Colts fans finally have a reason to feel good about a Reich video conference. We’ll continue to provide updates on Ya-Sin, Burton and Day throughout the week, but this was definitely a step in the right direction for all three of them.

Colts absolutely blew away franchise defensive record in first 3 games

The Indianapolis Colts absolutely blew away their franchise defensive record through the first three games of the 2020 season.