By ANDREW CHERNOFF
WISH-TV | wishtv.com
The Indianapolis Colts announced on Wednesday that they have placed center Wesley French on the Injured Reserve List.
French played in all 17 regular season games last season for the Colts. In fact, he started in three of them, in place of the team’s normal starting center Ryan Kelly.
French was signed the Colts as an undrafted free agent in May of 2022. He did not see any game action during the 2022 season, although he was on the team’s 53-man roster during the entire year.
With French’s move to the Injured Reserve List, the team also announced that it has signed free agent center Ryan Coll.
Coll took part in the Atlanta Falcons’ 2024 offseason program after signing with the Falcons this past April.
The official announcement regarding French came on the same day as another Colts player suffered an injury.
Wide receiver Josh Downs suffered an ankle injury during the team’s training camp practice Wednesday morning. The injury came during a seven-on-seven period after safety Nick Cross tackled Downs. The wide receiver needed assistance getting off the field.
“Yeah, I mean we’ve got to be smart,” Colts head coach Shane Steichen said after practice. “I mean we’re competing like crazy, but we’ve got to stay off the ground, and we can’t go down. That’s the bottom line.”
A report from NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport said that Downs has a high ankle sprain and could miss four to six weeks.
The Colts’ next practice at training camp is scheduled for Friday morning.
They then get ready to play their first preseason game on Sunday afternoon against the Denver Broncos. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. EDT inside Lucas Oil Stadium.
Steichen said that he will determine on Thursday whether or not the starters play in the preseason game.
“I have a good idea of what I’m going to do,” Steichen said. “I’ll let you guys (media members) know Friday for sure. I just want to get with the staff tomorrow (Thursday) because I haven’t told the players yet. So, I want to tell them first.”
This story was originally published by WISH-TV at wishtv.com/sports/colts-offensive-lineman-placed-on-injured-reserve-list/