Colts And Running Back Jonathan Taylor Seem To Have Struck A (Temporary) Peace Treaty
The message from Jonathan Taylor, from his first public comments in five months about his situation with the Colts, is: forget about all the drama that came before. Concentrate on the present.
This is because a cease fire of sorts has come with the start of the football season.
"Right now, I am here and my No. 1 goal is to attack this first practice," Taylor told reporters Thursday. "It's been over 290 days, I believe...
"The season is here. We've got the Tennessee Titans on the clock," he added later.
Jonathan Taylor back with Colts and ready to practice. (Credit: Getty Images)
Jonathan Taylor And Colts Drama Resolved?
And that's kind of it. Move on.
For now.
Taylor last played on Dec. 17 of last year when he injured his ankle. That eventually required surgery. And he's been rehabilitating since.
But the running back's also obviously been rethinking about his broken relationship with the Colts.
That latter break came after contract talks got sideways to the point neither Taylor nor his agent believed the team was negotiating in good faith. That led to ..
A trade request.
Permission from the Colts to find a new team.
The intriguing search for a new team.
And an effort that ended in Taylor not going anywhere and general manager Chris Ballard admitting "the situation sucks" because the relationship was broken.
JACKSONVILLE, FL - JANUARY 9: Running back Jonathan Taylor #28 of the Indianapolis Colts rushes against the Jacksonville Jaguars at TIAA Bank Field on January 9, 2022 in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars won 26 -11. (Photo by Don Juan Moore/Getty Images)
Taylor Accepts He's Playing For Colts
But since then, Taylor has apparently come to the conclusion he cannot force the Colts to give him a new deal or trade him. So he's become sort of accepting of his situation, at least publicly.
Taylor, at the core of all those previous issues, wants everyone to know he's accepted being with the Colts the remainder of this season if that's what the team decides.
"If somebody wasn't committed, they wouldn't be here," Taylor said.
Understand that accepting and committed are two different things. And that seemed obvious Thursday.
"I don't think it matters if I say I'm committed or not," Taylor added, "because I'm here."
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - OCTOBER 30: Jonathan Taylor #28 of the Indianapolis Colts runs with the ball in the third quarter against the Washington Commanders at Lucas Oil Stadium on October 30, 2022 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
Contract Issues Put Aside For Now
But, but, but what about the trade requests and desire to go to a team that would give Taylor a new contract?
Taylor declined to answer questions about his contract status and thoughts on the matter. He also didn't talk about a possible trade by the Oct. 31 trade deadline or his future with the team. He suggested most of those are offseason issues.
And this: The Colts would not have put Taylor on a podium to take questions from reporters if they believed he was going to use the session to carpet bomb the organization on those issues.
"I'm not here to talk about any contract things," Taylor made clear. "It's OK, it's the media's job to speculate. The only people that matter are inside these walls."
Jonathan Taylor spent the entire training camp and preseason sidelined. (Photo by Zach Bolinger/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Jonathan Taylor Addresses Health Concerns
And what about that apparent contract "hold-in" Taylor undertook during training camp and the preseason by not practicing or playing that eventually led to him being placed on the physically unable to perform list prior to the season?
Taylor proclaimed himself healthy.
"It feels really good to finally be healthy. The main goal was to be healthy and play football," Taylor said. "To go out there and do what I love which is to play football. So, just going through that journey throughout this whole time, there's been a lot of things said and done. But at the end of the day, the No. 1 overall goal for everybody was for me to get healthy.
"I think everybody's on the same page with that."
Taylor added it's not about what he wants but what he can do to help his teammates and the city. So a peace treaty between the player and the team is now in place.