What Colts said about Shaq Leonard being on the sidelines in second half of Sunday's loss
INDIANAPOLIS -- The Colts linebackers practice playing multiple combinations, Zaire Franklin, E.J. Speed, Shaquille Leonard, Grant Stuard and Segun Olubi capable of filling in for each other whenever needed.
But when Franklin left the game in the second half with a back injury, it was Olubi -- playing his first defensive snaps of the season -- who replaced him at mike linebacker, not the four-time All-Pro Leonard.
With the Colts needing to keep the Rams off the scoreboard and erase a 23-point deficit, a combination of Speed, Franklin and Olubi were tasked with shutting down one of the most explosive offenses in the league, while Leonard often watched from the sidelines. He played 45% of the Colts’ defensive snaps, equally the third-lowest percentage of his career.
When asked if there was a reason he wasn't in the game during parts of the second half, Leonard said, "No."
He declined to answer if an injury was the reason for the decreased playing time.
With Leonard playing a reduced role and Franklin -- the second-leading tackler in the league -- briefly out of the lineup due to a back injury, the Rams attacked the middle of the field with deep in routes, crossers and checkdowns to running backs. Once Franklin returned, with his back injury still bothering him, Sengun remained in the game and Leonard stayed on the sidelines.
"I take a lot of pride in just being dependable to my guys," Franklin said. "Just knowing that I wouldn't want to put Sengun in a situation where he hadn't played a lot of snaps and had a lot of reps, and I know my guys needed me out there. I was just trying to do everything I could to be out there. And once I got out there, (my back) still was hurting, but it is what it is at that point."
Leonard's snap percentage has decreased over each game this season. He played 85.7% of the defensive snaps Week 1, 71.4% in Week 2, 69.4% in Week 3 and 45.1% on Sunday. Colts linebacker coach Richard Smith said Leonard's snap percentage was too high after Week 1, so it appears the Colts have reduced his playing time to help him get through the season.
Coach Shane Steichen said Leonard is not dealing with an injury.
“We're just, obviously, rotating them in there," he said. "That's the rotation.”
Leonard played just three games last season while dealing with multiple injuries. In those three games Leonard did not play more than 54% of the defensive snaps.
"As we know Shaquille is coming off injury, so we're working him back into getting fully, 100% healthy," Speed said. "Once he's fully, 100% healthy, he'll start taking more snaps on third-down opportunities, he'll be relieved of his snap count and we'll go ahead and get back to our regular schedule."
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Leonard's decreased playing time comes with a lack of production from the defender known for his nose for the football. Leonard had 3 tackles Sunday and is fourth on the team with 21 through four games. However, he has no sacks, one tackle for loss, no forced fumbles, no fumble recoveries, no interceptions and no passes defended.
In 15 games in 2021, Leonard never went two games without making a splash play and he played 100% of the snaps in 11 of 15 games.
Keeping a player once considered one of the best linebackers in the NFL out of the game raises questions. Rotating linebackers into the game makes sense, but in crunch time it's surprising not to see the Colts' two best 'backers -- Franklin and Leonard -- in the game.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Colts: Why Shaq Leonard was on sidelines in 2nd half of Sunday's loss
