The Indianapolis Colts had a sight for sore eyes throughout Wednesday’s apply. There, linebacker Shaquille Leonard was capable of make his return after lacking all of coaching camp as a result of a again damage that required surgical procedure in June and likewise gave him issues together with his ankle and calf.
This optimistic growth comes after the Colts activated him off of the bodily unable to carry out checklist on Tuesday earlier than the lower deadline to get to the opening 53-man roster. Had Leonard remained on that checklist, he would have been required to overlook the primary 4 video games of Indianapolis’ season, so that is an general good signal for the linebacker’s probabilities of suiting up sooner fairly than later. Nonetheless, as head coach Frank Reich famous in mid-August, simply because he is activated and again on the sphere would not essentially imply he is 100%.
“I feel when he will get cleared, he is not going to be one hundred pc and he will must work his means again into it,” Reich stated on Aug. 18, by way of ESPN. “This has occurred to everyone. All the nice ones. I bear in mind again in 2008, Peyton [Manning] had the knee [injury] and he performed the primary 4 video games and he was a mere shell of [himself]. However we nonetheless discovered methods to win these video games. He discovered methods to play profitable soccer till he, round Week 5 or Week 6, hit his stride.
Nonetheless, seeing him on the sphere is actually a step in the appropriate route.
The 27-year-old is coming off an All-Professional season in 2021 the place he totaled 122 tackles, eight pressured fumbles and 4 interceptions in 16 video games performed. The Colts are at present the betting favourite to win the AFC South with new quarterback Matt Ryan on the helm and a wholesome Leonard would go a great distance in guaranteeing they will attain the postseason.
