Jonathan Taylor missed the Indianapolis Colts’ practice Thursday. For most players this wouldn’t be noteworthy. For Taylor, it was the end of an era.
Per Taylor, it marked the first time in more than a decade that the All-Pro running back had missed a practice. He showed up and played every day at Salem High School in New Jersey, then for three years at the University of Wisconsin, and now for two-plus seasons as a Colt. And while he missed a game as a rookie due to being a close contact with a teammate who tested positive for COVID-19, he remained healthy enough to turn up at Indianapolis’ practices without a break in his action.
One thing Jonathan Taylor said today: He's never missed a practice in high school, college or in the pros. A COVID-19 close contact forced him to miss the second Tennessee game last year, but he didn't miss a practice.
— Joel A. Erickson (@JoelAErickson) October 28, 2021
Missing that 2020 game against the Tennessee Titans puts a dent in his ironman streak, but it remains impressive. Taylor doesn’t just play a position where injuries are so common that running backs have been increasingly regarded as disposable; he gets an unreal amount of carries in the process.
He had 386 carries in three recorded seasons at Salem, gaining an absurd 4,015 yards in the process. He ran the ball 926 times in three years as a Badger, gaining more than 6,100 yards. He’s had 625 handoffs in 35 games as a pro, including an NFL-high 332 in last season’s All-Pro campaign.
That’s a ton of mileage! And the worst Taylor has to show for it is a minor toe injury that held him out of practice for precautionary reasons for a Colts team that may need his running more than ever.
Taylor is expected to play Week 4 vs. the Titans. His 3.4 yards per carry in last week’s win over the Kansas City Chiefs was the fifth-lowest single-game mark of his career. We’ll know whether the rest did him good by Sunday night.
