Shane Steichen just made it painfully clear he doesn't trust Michael Badgley

Indianapolis Colts fans have gotten used to certain Shane Steichen mannerisms. For one, the head coach is not going to give much information on injuries. Another is that Steichen is very unlikely to throw any specific player under the proverbial bus.

He came as close as he has ever to doing that after Indy's Week 13 loss to the Houston Texans. The game was an odd one, with several poor calls by the officials, the offense being too pass-heavy, and kicker Michael Badgley missing an extra point.

Normally, that last part might not be all that important, but that was the opposite case against Houston. Indianapolis lost 20-16, so the missed extra point kept the team a touchdown away from winning. There was no chance to tie, but there should have been.

Indianapolis Colts might be stuck with Michael Badgley the rest of the season

Badgley, who replaced Spencer Shrader when Shrader suffered a knee injury in Week 3, hasn't been terrible overall, but he's been atrocious at making extra points. He has missed three and is the first Indy kicker to miss that many since Adam Vinatieri in 2019. His latest miss was his worst.

While many Colts fans are hoping and expecting the team to make a change, Shane Steichen appears conflicted. He doesn't want to speak badly about Badgley the person, but he also seems very frustrated by the missed extra points.

Speaking with the media the day after Indy's Week 13 loss to Houston, Steichen told reporters, "Badge knows he’s gotta make the PATs. But I love Badge. I love Badge the player. I love Badge the person. And we’ll see where it goes. But whoever’s out there kicking for us, we got a ton of faith in whoever it is. Badge has done a helluva job; he's made big-time kicks for us, but obviously we've got to make the PATs there."

Parsing those words, Steichen is a good enough human being not to want to de-humanize the player, but the "whoever's out there" definitely leaves the proverbial door open for some other kicker to come in for a tryout and take Badgley's job. The problem with adding a new kicker is that there is clearly no guarantee that the player will be better than Badgley.

While the extra points are obviously a concern, Michael Badgley has made 10 of his 11 field goal attempts, including going two for three beyond 50 yards. As consistent as Shrader was likely to be, he didn't have a stronger leg than Badgley and wasn't the threat from long distance that Badgley is.

Most likely, the Indianapolis Colts are stuck with Badgley the rest of the season. But for Indy fans wanting to get rid of Badgley, good news. The team is reportedly working out kickers ahead of Week 14.