Jones says he's simulated everything but the hits, Allen confirmed for Week 1
Daniel Jones says his Achilles rehab has him ready for everything except contact, and Shane Steichen has confirmed Keenan Allen will play in the opener despite his August arrest.
Jones says he's simulated everything but the hits, and Allen is playing Week 1
Daniel Jones enters Week 1 sounding like a man who has already played the game in his head. "Outside of getting hit, I feel like I've simulated everything that could come up in a game," he said this week in his media availability, closing out a training camp in which he never took a live rep after tearing his Achilles last season. Steichen had been the cautious voice all August — "I know he's ripping and roaring and ready to go, but we gotta be smart," he said — but Jones took full reps all week and the Colts named him one of five captains for 2026, alongside DeForest Buckner, Quenton Nelson, Cam Bynum and Jonathan Taylor, per Mike Chappell of Fox 59.
Keenan Allen's status got its answer too. Asked directly whether Allen's workload would be trimmed for the opener after his August 30 DWI arrest, Steichen didn't hedge: "No, he'll play Week 1." It's a vote of confidence for a receiver room that also got a little healthier — Alec Pierce was a full participant in Thursday's practice on a bad ankle, Nathan Brown of The Indianapolis Star reports — while Anthony Richardson was officially named the backup quarterback behind Jones, capping his own six-month round trip from trade request to QB2.
Last time out: Dobbs and the Lions close the Colts' preseason at 0-2-1
The preseason finale got away in the first quarter. Detroit's Josh Dobbs went 12 of 14 for 110 yards and 2 touchdowns before halftime, and Indianapolis never closed the gap in a 25-16 loss that finished the exhibition slate at 0-2-1.
Lions16-25
Falcons6-34
Patriots13-13The evaluation part of the night held up anyway. DJ Giddens carried twice for 8 yards and a touchdown and caught his only target for 8 more; Seth McGowan added 4 carries for 20 yards and a 5-yard catch; Leonard was 3 of 7 for 48 yards with the interception and 3 rushing yards on 3 carries. The one real scare came early, when Coleman Owen went into the concussion protocol in the first quarter — an injury that put him on injured reserve two days later. Jonathan Taylor, notably, was held out of the finale entirely to stay fresh for the opener.
Ballard fixes the backup center spot, then keeps churning the practice squad
Cutdown weekend fixed a real hole. Indianapolis sent a 2027 sixth-round pick to Buffalo for backup center Sedrick Van Pran-Granger and a 2027 seventh-rounder, and Mike Chappell of Fox 59 called it necessity: "Indy had no choice but to look outside for a backup C. Dalton Tucker just wasn't the answer" — a line filed after watching Tucker have Richardson guessing where the shotgun snap was going against Detroit. The kicking competition resolved the same weekend, with Spencer Shrader winning the job after the Colts cut Blake Grupe, Mike Garafolo reported.
Colts announced they acquired center Sedrick Van Pran-Granger and a 2027 seventh-round draft pick from the Buffalo Bills in exchange for a 2027 sixth-round draft pick.
The practice squad kept turning over into this week. The Colts signed RB Davon Booth and G Reid Holskey and released RB Ulysses Bentley IV on Tuesday, per Aaron Wilson and Mike Chappell — part of a wave that also re-signed 15 players Sunday, including tackle Luke Tenuta after his brief release. It wasn't a perfect week on the wire, either: the Colts were one of 4 teams to put in a waiver claim on cornerback Darrell Luter, but the Raiders' higher priority won the player, per Raiders Win Waiver Battle For CB Darrell Luter Over 4 Teams.
A new voice in Baltimore walks into Lucas Oil as a slight favorite
Sunday afternoon vs. the Ravens opens the real season, and Baltimore arrives as an unfamiliar version of itself. The Ravens moved on from longtime coach John Harbaugh this offseason and promoted former Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter, following an 8-9 finish that kept them out of the playoffs, per Yahoo Sports. None of that shows up in the preseason line: Baltimore ran through its exhibition slate at 3-0, capped by a 41-3 win over Washington, while Indianapolis was still piecing together a receiver room that lost Michael Pittman Jr. in the offseason and is nursing Alec Pierce's ankle.
The number attached to that mismatch is modest. The line opened with Indianapolis as 3.5-point underdogs at home, and the total was set at 48.5 — middling, for a game between two teams still figuring out who they are on offense. Jones gets his first real test since tearing his Achilles, Allen gets his first snaps in a Colts uniform that count, and Lucas Oil Stadium gets its answer to all of training camp's open questions at once.