Indianapolis Colts defensive end Kwity Paye has been battling an ankle injury for the better part of the last two months but there’s a chance he makes his return against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday night.
Though it’s likely a long shot that he plays considering he didn’t practice all week, the Colts didn’t rule him out on the final injury report. Interim head coach Jeff Saturday told reporters that Paye will work out Sunday to determine his status.
“Could play. We’re not ruling anybody out. He’s continuing to progress, and we’ll work him out again tomorrow and he’s just kind of working through all of that,” Saturday said.
Paye has been a force on the defensive line when he’s healthy. He’s shown plenty of development as a pass rusher and makes an impact setting the edge against the run.
But the ankle injury he suffered against the Denver Broncos in Week 5 just hasn’t gone away. He made a return in Week 10 against the Las Vegas Raiders but aggravated the ankle injury and missed the entire second half of that game.
Paye hasn’t practiced since that minor setback, but he’s at least healthy to be in consideration for a return this week.
If Paye can’t go Monday night, it will be interesting to see how the outcome of the game impacts the rest of the season. The Colts are just about out of the playoff race, currently holding the No. 10 seed. If they lose, the Colts may want to shut Paye down for a few more weeks to ensure his health.
If they win, they are likely going to feel good about their chances of grabbing a wild-card spot even if the odds of that happening are slim-to-none.
We’ll see if Paye will be healthy enough to play against the Steelers on Monday night, but he at least has a chance.
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