The Indianapolis Colts will officially be without star running back Jonathan Taylor for at least the first four games of the season after he was placed on the Physically Unable to Perform list on Tuesday. This prompted Colts GM Chris Ballard to speak about the situation on Wednesday.
Taylor has been a disgruntled member of the Colts for most of the NFL offseason, requesting a trade last month after contract extension talks with the team reached a stalemate. It doesn’t seem like he will be traded anytime soon, as the team ultimately decided on Tuesday that the value in return for them was not high enough to trade him.
This leaves Taylor in an awkward career stage, still dealing with a nagging injury while being a part of a team he clearly doesn’t want to be on.
Taylor’s absence will obviously be a big blow to the Colts as they prepare for their season opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars. And Chris Ballard didn’t mince words when asked about Taylor’s injury and what that means for the team.
“I’m not going to sit here and give you some rosy picture, like, ‘Oh, everything’s okay,'” said Ballard via ESPN’s Stephen Holder. “It sucks for Colts fans. It sucks for Jonathan Taylor. And it sucks for our fans, it just does. It’s where we’re at and we’ve got to work through it.”
Ballard also spoke about the disconnect between Taylor and the Colts organization, where he seems optimistic that things can be “repaired”.
“We’re going to do everything we can to work through it. Relationships are repairable. They’re repairable.”
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.