It’s the Monday after the first weekend of the regular season and the vested veterans are landing all around the league.
The latest one to find a job is former Steelers offensive lineman Trai Essex. The Colts announced Monday that they have signed Essex and waived Mike Person and center A.Q. Shipley.
Essex was with the Steelers from the day they made him a third-round pick in 2005 until the final cut down to 53 players at the end of August. Essex made 28 starts over that time, playing both guard and tackle for Pittsburgh, and won a pair of Super Bowl rings. His familiarity with Colts offensive coordinator Bruce Arians likely helped him earn the job in Indianapolis.
He could wind up playing right away. Colts right tackle Winston Justice suffered a concussion during the loss to the Bears and his status is up in the air for their home opener against the Vikings. He’s slotted into the team’s depth chart as the backup right guard, but he’s got more experience than backup tackle Jeff Linkenbach.
Whoever does get the nod needs to help the line do a better job than they did against the Bears. Andrew Luck was sacked three times and pressured plenty en route to the 41-21 loss.