A report on Wednesday morning indicated Colts quarterback Carson Wentz and guard Quenton Nelson are trending toward playing in Week 1 after having foot surgery that came with a recovery timeline of 5-12 weeks.
Colts head coach Frank Reich didn’t do much to suggest that report is incorrect when he spoke to Colleen Wolfe of NFL Network after practice, but he did temper optimism about the outlooks for both players with the caveat that there are still some tests the players will have to pass in order to get the green light for the opener.
“I don’t mind telling you, they’re doing exceedingly well. But it is still early,” Reich said. “All indications at this point, for what you would hope for from them, we’re getting that plus. So, you can’t really tell until you get out there and test it. We know we’re a week or so away from that happening at a more significant level but all signs are pretty positive right now. Now, where that comes out, Week 1, 2, we don’t know but we’ll find out soon enough.”
The Colts will continue to use backups for Wentz and Nelson in the near term, but all recent developments point to a return sooner rather than later.