Indianapolis Colts coach Shane Steichen flat out insisted Wednesday that Pro Bowl running back Jonathan Taylor’s workload against the Dallas Cowboys this weekend is not changing one bit, despite all the crazy trade rumors swirling around him. The coach, Taylor himself, and the team are all screaming that they are still playing to win. Seriously? It feels like we are watching a different movie given what’s been happening around that franchise.
Jonathan Taylor Is Still Giving It His All, But For How Long?
Listen, we just saw Taylor carry the ball only eight times in last week’s brutal 42-7 loss at Jacksonville. That was a serious dip from his previous season low of 15 carries at Pittsburgh, and it tied for the fifth-fewest in his entire seven-year career. So when Steichen says they are not protecting their top trade asset from injury and won’t before next week’s trade deadline, you gotta wonder. The guy’s a Pro Bowler, finished third in rushing in 2025 and is fifth this year at 27 years old, and he is saying all the right things. “I think there’s a lot of stuff out there right now, but he’s on our football and he’s excited for this opportunity to play. He wants to go win this game,” Steichen stated, trying to shut down the noise. Taylor, who typically avoids Wednesday pressers, is expected to speak Thursday, but he has already been making impassioned pleas to show fans the 2-6 Colts have not given up. After that Jacksonville debacle, he urged his teammates to stay focused on winning now, not on future plans or whether he will even be on the roster. As a team captain, he put it bluntly: “Teams are going to look at us even more, foaming at the mouth. Your back is against the wall, what are you going to do? You’re going to have to fight your way out of a corner. This is not getting nowhere near any easier, you’ve got to accept that, and when you accept that, that’s just the first step.” This dude is a warrior, playing his heart out for a team that seems to be unraveling around him.
The Colts’ Rebuild Is In Full Swing, Ready Or Not
The truth is, all this Taylor drama is happening because Colts co-owner Carlie Irsay-Gordon is clearly ready to rebuild next season, despite what Steichen is saying. They fired general manager Chris Ballard two weeks ago, and then dealt longtime teammates Quenton Nelson and DeForest Buckner for draft picks last week. A full-on fire sale, right? While all this is going down, Indy did manage to re-sign defensive tackle Adetomiwa Adebawore to a two-year, $35 million deal with $22 million guaranteed and a $13 million signing bonus. The guy’s having a breakout season, matching his career high with four sacks, and he’s excited, saying, “I wanted to be here, so Carlie came up to me and we went through the negotiations and I felt very comfortable with the situation. I’m glad we got it done, I’m excited for this week.” That’s a good move, but it is just one piece of a much larger puzzle. Irsay-Gordon’s plan is pretty clear: collect draft picks and shed salary cap to be more active in the offseason and make the GM job more attractive, especially since they do not even have a first-round pick in 2027. That pick, remember, went to the New York Jets last November for All-Pro cornerback Sauce Gardner. That trade’s anniversary was Wednesday, and let’s just say it has not worked out the way Indy hoped. They were 8-2 when they made that move, trying to end a four-year playoff drought, and now? It’s a completely different story.
So, the Colts are playing the Dallas Cowboys next. With a 2-6 record and all this chaos swirling, it will be interesting to see if Taylor’s workload truly does stay the same, and if his passionate calls for winning can actually ignite a team that seems to be in full rebuild mode.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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