Colts Notebook: DL Lewis added to injured list

Published 8:15 pm Tuesday, October 1, 2024

Indianapolis Colts defensive end Tyquan Lewis celebrates a sack against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

INDIANAPOLIS — Add Tyquan Lewis to the list of significant defensive contributors on the shelf for the Indianapolis Colts.

The versatile defensive lineman was placed on injured reserve Tuesday after leaving Sunday’s win against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the fourth quarter because of an elbow injury.

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Lewis is the third defensive starter placed on IR in the first four weeks of the season. Cornerback Juju Brents (knee) was placed on the list following a Week 1 loss against the Houston Texans, and defensive tackle DeForest Buckner (back) was deactivated following the Week 2 loss against the Green Bay Packers.

Defensive end Samson Ebukam was placed on IR before the season opener after tearing his Achilles’ tendon during training camp, and defensive end Kwity Paye (hip) and cornerback Kenny Moore II (knee) missed Sunday’s game and will continue to be monitored this week.

Lewis started the first four games of the season and was on pace to match or exceed nearly all of the career highs he set last year.

He had two tackles and half a sack Sunday against the Steelers and has 17 tackles, 1.5 sacks, two tackles for loss and three quarterback hits this season.

The injury is not currently believed to be season ending, but Lewis must miss at least the next four games.

“First of all (we’ll miss him) as a man — I mean, (he’s a) great leader,” Colts defensive coordinator Gus Bradley said. “I think I said two games ago against Chicago, you could feel it like — there’s a number of plays we felt like he was a guy in particular that really emptied his tank. But he plays like that every game.

“I mean, no matter where we put him — if it’s inside, if it’s outside, you know what you’re going to get from him, and you know he’s going to give you a full day’s work.”

Indianapolis (2-2) has struggled while it adjusts to the constantly rotating defensive roster.

The Colts have allowed the most total yards in the league and rank second-to-last with 659 rushing yards allowed.

But the run defense has improved dramatically in the last two weeks, and Indianapolis ranks 15th with an average of 4.4 yards allowed per carry.

Lewis’ ability to play both end and tackle has helped cover for some of the losses, but now Indianapolis must move on without him as well.

“He’s a playmaker for us,” Bradley said. “So, yeah, that’s going to be hard on us. But we’ll have other guys that will step up, but he’s been tremendous for that group, and he’ll still be around and in that room helping those guys. That the kind of guy he is.”

IMPRESSIVE DEBUT

After being a healthy inactive for each of the first three weeks, rookie center Tanor Bortolini made his first career start Sunday.

Pro Football Focus charged him with just one quarterback pressure surrendered, no sacks and no quarterback hits.

But Bortolini’s debut might best be remembered for his full-on sprint back to the sideline after the Colts scored a touchdown on the opening drive for the first time this season.

“It was really cool that the first drive, we just ran it down the field and were able to punch it in on that drive,” Bortolini said. “I just had a lot of energy. It was a real burst of energy there.”

Pittsburgh came into the game with the league’s No. 1 ranked scoring defense and had allowed the fewest yards in the league.

Indianapolis put up 17 points in the first 18 minutes alone and finished with a season-high 358 total yards despite losing starting quarterback Anthony Richardson in the first quarter and star running back Jonathan Taylor in the fourth period.

“That’s a great defense. That’s a great front,” offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter said. “There’s a lot of plays when you play the Steelers and you’re a center when you are covered by a nose, who’s a good player, and you’re sort of battling play after play after play against a good player and a good front, making some calls.

“Those guys make you make certain adjustments and identifications that we ask sort of our centers to make. Bort did a great job, especially for his first game.”

ROSTER MOVES

Defensive tackle Adam Gotsis was signed to the 53-man roster from the practice squad to replace Lewis.

Cornerback Kelvin Joseph and running back Trent Pennix were re-signed to the practice squad, and kicker Spencer Shrader was released from the practice squad.