Colts seventh rotation of thin secondary raises concerns on roster evaluation

An endless cornerback carousel continues as the seventh different combination of Indianapolis Colts starters since the beginning of last season will get the nod Sunday in Green Bay.

The Colts placed second-year cornerback JuJu Brents on Injured Reserve on Tuesday after learning he suffered an MCL injury during the season-opening loss to the Houston Texans. The Indy-native started at outside cornerback in front of a home crowd of 65,306 fans inside Lucas Oil Stadium. Indianapolis’ second-round draft pick played 62 snaps and collected seven tackles. Brents underwent an MRI earlier this week and the injury was revealed to be more severe than the team thought.

“I know you guys saw the news about JuJu (Brents),” Colts head coach Shane Steichen said in Wednesday’s opening statement. “Obviously, unfortunate for us. He’d been battling like crazy from last year, and to come back this year, and to have what happened to him again is a tough deal.”

Brents, 24, has battled through adversity constantly while struggling to stay healthy in his NFL career. Brents underwent wrist surgery before the 2023 NFL Draft, dealt with hamstring injuries which kept him out of training camp last summer and missed six games of his rookie campaign with a quadriceps injury. This will be his third surgical operation in the last three months after reconstructive ankle surgery in June, followed by a nose procedure to fix a broken nose after the Colts second preseason game against the Arizona Cardinals.

“There is going to be light at the end of the tunnel when this thing is all said and done,” Steichen told reporters. “But just keep the right spirits, right attitude, right mindset to get through this challenging time and come back stronger.”

The most glaring weakness on the depth chart during the offseason was the lack of experience in the secondary. Colts GM Chris Ballard eschewed from signing a proven veteran cornerback or selecting one of the top defensive backs early in the 2024 NFL Draft. 2023 seventh-round draft pick Jaylon Jones is the lone cornerback on the 53-man roster that was drafted by the Colts. Jones earned the starting nod during Brents’ absence last season and solidified his starting spot with a full training camp of first-team reps.

Steichen admitted the club “felt good” about the effort to develop the young defensive backs this season. Cornerback Dallis Flowers was a healthy scratch in the season-opener, but could be the next man up to replace Brents for the foreseeable future. Flowers started the first four games of the 2023 season at outside cornerback and kick returner, but suffered a torn Achilles in the overtime home loss against the Los Angeles Rams, which cost him the rest of his second campaign.

Indianapolis claimed Samuel Womack III off waivers from San Francisco on Aug. 28. Both Womack and Flowers enter their third NFL season aiming to take advantage of this sudden opportunity in their season debut. In a corresponding move to placing Brents on IR, the Colts elevated cornerback Chris Lammons from the practice squad to the active roster.

Indianapolis signed former second-round draft pick CB Kelvin Joseph to the practice squad on Tuesday. The Colts invited Joseph to a workout with a group of a half-dozen other free agents in late August. Dallas drafted Joseph with the No. 44 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. Joseph spent his first two NFL seasons in Dallas and has three career starts under his belt. In 31 career games, Joseph has compiled 39 tackles, four pass deflections, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. Joseph played just 21 defensive snaps in Miami last season and has seen his snap counts decline while vying for a spot on an NFL roster.

There are mixed vibes in Indianapolis heading into Sunday’s Week 2 road affair against the Packers. It will be the first time in a decade since the Packers faced an AFC opponent in the home opener. The Colts winless streak in season openers reached 11 games after the 29-27 Week 1 loss to the Houston Texans. The Packers have emerged victorious in 11 consecutive home openers, which is the longest active streak in the NFL.