Indianapolis Colts Head Coach Rules Out Several Players for Sunday’s Game vs New England

Source: Cooper Neill / Getty

INDIANAPOLIS–Indianapolis Colts Head Coach Shane Steichen is ruling out some of his players for Sunday’s game against the New England Patriots.

In a news conference on Friday, he ruled out center Tanor Bortolini, wide receiver Josh Downs, wide receiver Ashton Dulin, and offensive tackle Braden Smith.

Steichen said Smith is dealing with a personal matter. Downs was bothered by a shoulder injury in the team’s 24-6 loss to Detroit last Sunday. Dulin has an ankle injury while Bortolini has been battling a concussion.

Steichen said he is not losing faith in the offensive linemen that will be playing in the game.

“A ton. A ton of confidence in these guys. This league obviously it’s next man up, and we have a lot of confidence in whoever is out there – that we go out and perform at a high level,” said Steichen.

Downs is considered week-to-week.

In light of the loss by the Chicago Bears to the Detroit Lions on Thursday where the Bears left a timeout on the table and Head Coach Matt Eberflus was fired, Steichen was asked how he deals with end of game scenarios.

“Yeah, there’s charts but we have a situational meeting every Thursday. We go through about an hour (of) situations around the league. Always talk through those things. There’s obviously unique situations that come up around the league and you kind of put yourself through those situations throughout the week so when they do come up on Sundays, you should be ready for them,” said Steichen.

The Colts are 5-7. The Patriots are 3-9. Kickoff on Sunday is at 1 pm.

You can hear the full presser with Steichen below.