Chargers vs Colts: NFL Monday Night Football injury report | Will Jonathan Taylor play?
Though their playoff hopes have ended and they’re without key players, don’t be surprised if the Colts have a go at Chargers when they close out Week 16 on Boxing Day.
Neither team is particularly unhealthy when considering how late in the season we are, but there are definitely some key injury concerns. At any rate, with playoff hopes now over for the Colts and the Chargers in with a chance, this one could definitely be interesting. Let’s take a look at the injury report.
Jonathan Taylor’s season is over amid Colts changes
The question coming into this one was whether 2021 NFL rushing champ Jonathan Taylor would be good to go. Unfortunately, the sad reality is that not only will Taylor miss this game, but reports now confirm that he will be absent for the remaining three games of the season due to an ankle injury. Sadly, that’s not the only major loss for the Colts, with reports also indicating that cornerback Kenny Moore II will miss Monday’s clash in what will be his third game out, as well as tight end Kylen Granson who also has ankle issues.
Aside from injuries, the Colts have also made some curious changes to the lineup. Following an unprecedented loss to the Vikings in which they blew a 33-point lead to lose 39-36 in overtime, the Colts have decided to go with third-string QB Nick Foles ahead of Matt Ryan. According to interim coach Jeff Saturday, the move was made for one simple reason. “It’s no secret, we haven’t converted in the red zone and ultimately, you’ve got to make plays in the NFL and we’re not making nearly enough explosive plays and not making plays in the red zone,” he said when announcing that Ryan would be benched once more. “I feel like Nick will give us a better chance to go win these last three games.”
Healthy Chargers eye third straight win and playoff berth
At 8-6 the Los Angeles Chargers are fresh off of a huge 17-14 victory over the Tennessee Titans in Week 15. In yards gained, the Chargers were 365 compared to the Titans 284 and in the end, got the victory courtesy of a dramatic 43-yard field goal from Cameron Dicker with four seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. Needless to say, QB Justin Herbert was once again a class act. When Tennessee tied the game at 14-14 with 48 seconds left on the clock, it was Herbert who completed a 35-yard pass to Mike Williams to get within field-goal range.
“We have practiced two-minute drives all of the time in practice and all throughout camp. We know that we have special receivers, a great offensive line blocking and Mike Williams goes and makes the plays,” Herbert said. “To be able to go through that and deal with as much adversity as we did today and not be able to score points and turnovers and things like that, for those guys to hang tough, believe in the defense and believe in each other, it was really good to see for us.” Where injuries are concerned, the Chargers are in good shape with only Kemon Hall set to miss out with a hamstring problem. While that loss will be felt, there’s no reason to believe it will stop the Chargers from clinching their first trip to the playoffs since 2018.