Marlon Mack suffered a torn Achilles for the Indianapolis Colts during Sunday's contest, forcing him to miss the rest of the 2020 season. With Mack sidelined for the Colts, Frank Reich is confident that rookie Jonathan Taylor can lead the charge in the team's backfield:
“Jonathan is ready,” Reich said Monday. “He’ll step up and do a great job. … I think it’s a mindset that Jonathan has to come in and just take ownership of the position. We’re still going to rotate guys through, but Jonathan still has to be lead dog and have that mindset and confidence, and I know he’ll do that.”
The expectations entering the season was for Mack and Taylor to share the bulk of the carries in the Colts' backfield. That was exactly the case in Week 1 before Mack exited the game on a cart due to a season-ending injury.
When Mack left the contest, Taylor assumed the role as the No. 1 running back for Indianapolis. Besides Taylor, Nyheim Hines saw an expanded role, mostly as a receiving threat.
In his NFL debut, Taylor produced 89 scrimmage yards on 15 total touches. While the team was upset by the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, Taylor was a bright spot in the offense.
Back in April, the Colts used the No. 41 pick on Taylor in hopes he could evolve into a franchise running back for them. Even though he'll be sharing touches with Hines and Jordan Wilkins moving forward, Reich believes Taylor is fit to handle a heavy workload for Indianapolis amid Mack's unfortunate injury.
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