Colts place Charvarius Ward on IR with third concussion as injuries wreak havoc on Indianapolis

Ward joins Daniel Jones, Sauce Gardner and more on the sideline

The Indianapolis Colts' once-promising season is quickly slipping away, and their best players are going with it. Indianapolis placed standout cornerback Charvarius Ward on IR for a concussion. It is the third time Ward has been in the concussion protocol this season, and he will miss at least the final four games of the regular season.

Ward missed Indianapolis' Week 2 win over the Denver Broncos with a concussion. He was also on IR from Weeks 7-10 due to a concussion suffered when he collided with teammate Drew Ogletree in pregame warmups ahead of a Week 6 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals.

Ward told The Athletic he seriously contemplated retiring due to the lingering effects of the injury, which included dizziness, vomiting and an inability to do day-to-day tasks.

The Colts traded two first-round picks for Sauce Gardner in a trade-deadline blockbuster and aimed to form one of the best cornerback trios in the league in Gardner, Ward (once healthy) and slot cornerback Kenny Moore. But Gardner suffered a calf strain in Week 13 against the Houston Texans and is listed as week-to-week. Gardner and Ward have played just one full game together for Indianapolis. Furthermore, standout defensive lineman DeForest Buckner (neck) has not played since Week 9.

The injury bug got even worse in Week 14, when quarterback Daniel Jones -- already playing through a fractured left fibula -- tore his right Achilles. The Colts, already down backup quarterback Anthony Richardson, who suffered an orbital fracture while stretching in the same pregame warmups Ward got hurt, turned to sixth-round rookie Riley Leonard. Then Leonard suffered a knee strain in the loss to the Jaguars.

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Tyler Sullivan

That led the Colts to sign 44-year-old Philip Rivers to the practice squad this week. Rivers has not played since 2020, though he has experience in coach Shane Steichen's system. Currently, the only quarterbacks on the team's active roster are Leonard and Brett Rypien, who initially joined the practice squad after Richardson's injury and has now been called up after Jones' injury.

Jones and the Colts were one of the NFL's best feel-good stories halfway through the season after a 7-1 start. However, they have lost four of five games since to fall to 8-5. They sit in eighth place in the AFC -- one spot out of the playoff bracket -- and have a difficult matchup with the 10-3 Seattle Seahawks in Week 15.