Colts losing Mo Alie-Cox forces neglected Jack Doyle to step up
By Adam Weinrib
Colts TE Mo Alie-Cox is out for Week 6, and Jack Doyle and Trey Burton are essential again.
Just a few weeks after we used our time arguing that Mo Alie-Cox’s emergence meant that Jack Doyle could begin packing his bags and the coaching staff might want to reevaluate their assessment of Trey Burton, we get hit with this. Of course. That’s how the NFL works, doesn’t it?
After suffering a leg injury in the team’s Week 5 loss and being largely absent from practice all week, Alie-Cox has been ruled out on Friday prior to the battle with the Bengals, which is still on despite a testing scare.
Though we attempted to toss them aside, Doyle and Burton are right back to being front and center again, even though Nick Sirianni and the offensive coaching staff only showed an interest in emphasizing one of them last week.
Colts ruled out tight end Mo Alie-Cox and tackle Chaz Green for Sunday's Week 6 matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 16, 2020
Though he battled the injury, Alie-Cox did appear in a portion of Sunday’s game against the Browns, and was targeted only a single time, despite his impressive breakout helping to carry the team through many of its Burton-less weeks.
In total, both Doyle and Alie-Cox saw just three targets; meanwhile, Burton served as the offensive hinge Sirianni always claimed he intended him to be, swooping in and snagging five receptions for 33 yards (though he didn’t accrue anything out of the backfield).
Here are the #Colts unofficial snap counts from the Week 5 loss to the Browns.
— Andrew Walker (@AWalkerColts) October 12, 2020
• Anthony Walker, Bobby Okereke each play 100% of snaps at LB w/Darius Leonard out.
• TEs Jack Doyle & Mo Alie-Cox: combined 55 snaps, 3 targets.
• Xavier Rhodes 36% more snaps than Rock Ya-Sin. pic.twitter.com/asq2jGiQGV
We argued that it was beyond time for the Colts to find a balance between their three pass-catching weapons this week; now, that burden has shifted onto just two men.
But last week, for whatever reason, the offense bent heavily in the direction of the new addition to the supposed three-headed monster and not Doyle, who was recently thought of as a major offensive piece in Indianapolis.
If the team is going to replicate its success from the Alie-Cox-heavy weeks, he has to be more than a figurehead in Week 6.
