Veteran Kareem Hunt visiting Colts in wake of Jonathan Taylor, RB injuries
WESTFIELD — The Colts continue to look for help at running back in the wake of Jonathan Taylor’s absence and a rash of injuries that have hit the position hard in training camp.
Indianapolis is flying in running back Kareem Hunt for a Wednesday visit, a league source confirmed to IndyStar on Tuesday, in an effort to potentially beat out the Saints for the veteran’s services.
Hunt visited New Orleans on Tuesday.
Running back was expected to be a position of strength for the Colts this offseason, but the team is locked in a contract dispute with star running back Jonathan Taylor, who requested a trade earlier this August in response to the team saying it does not plan to sign him to an extension until after this season, the final year of Taylor’s rookie deal.
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Taylor is also still on the active/physically unable to perform list due to the ankle injury that ended his season prematurely a year ago and forced him to undergo an arthroscopic debridement in January. The former first-team All-Pro was absent from practice Tuesday.
More: Why Jonathan Taylor was not present at Colts training camp Tuesday
“If you guys don’t see him out here, it’s part of his rehab,” Indianapolis head coach Shane Steichen said.
Steichen expressed hope that the team’s star would be back on the field soon.
“I think he’s in a good spot,” Steichen said. “I’d like to see (Taylor practice during camp). We’ll see how it all plays out, though. Again, once he’s cleared, he’ll be out there.”
The Colts’ depth chart behind Taylor has been thinned the last couple of weeks.
Taylor’s primary backup, Zack Moss, broke his arm in the early days of training camp, and he’s expected to miss six weeks, a timetable that would put his return right around the season opener. The next player on the depth chart, third-year back Deon Jackson, was held out of practice Tuesday, although it’s unclear if he’s expected to miss significant time.
Indianapolis signed veteran running back Kenyan Drake late last week, but Drake hasn’t taken many snaps in 11-on-11 work in practice yet, ceding those carries to fifth-round pick Evan Hull, third-year journeyman Jake Funk and undrafted rookie Zavier Scott.
Now, the spectre of Hunt has been added to the Colts’ complicated mix at the position.
Hunt burst onto the scene as a rookie in Kansas City in 2017, leading the NFL in rushing with 1,327 yards, and he had 824 yards in 11 games in 2018 when a video was released of the running back kicking a woman in a hotel the previous year. Kansas City released Hunt, who was suspended for eight games at the beginning of the 2019 season.
Cleveland scooped up Hunt to serve as Nick Chubb’s primary backup, and he’s spent the past four seasons in that role, rushing for 1,874 yards, including a 2020 season where Hunt rushed for 841 yards.
Hunt, 28, posted career lows of 3.8 yards per carry and 6.0 yards per catch in 2022, and the Browns elected not to bring him back again, leaving him available to visit the Saints and Colts two weeks after the opening of NFL training camps.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Colts: Kareem Hunt visiting in wake of Jonathan Taylor, RB injuries
