The Indianapolis Colts announced on Saturday that cornerback JuJu Brents has been downgraded to out for the team’s Week 17 matchup against the New York Giants.
Brents will instead remain on injured reserve for the time being.
The Colts also announced that quarterback Anthony Richardson has been downgraded to out for Sunday’s game as well.
Brents was designated to return to practice from injured reserve during Week 16. Brents has been on IR since Week 2, after suffering a knee injury in the Colt’s season opener against Houston.
It does seem like Brents has made progress on the practice field. After being a limited participant in all three practices a week ago, he was a full participant each day this week, but isn’t quite ready to return yet.
The Colts will still have the opportunity to activate Brents next week before their regular season finale against Jacksonville.
While if available, it’s only one game–unless the Colts sneak into the playoffs–Brents needs all the live reps he can get right now. Due to injuries his rookie season in 2023, Brents appeared in only nine games and has played in just one this year.
With Brents having missed so much time, along with the emergence of Samuel Womack opposite of Jaylon Jones, my guess is that if he does return, he will be eased back in as a rotational member of the secondary, getting snaps in certain situations.
For his career, which has spanned 10 games, Brents has allowed a completion rate of 67% on 55 targets at 14.6 yards per catch with five pass breakups and an interception.
