The NFL outlawed the hip drop tackle prior to the 2024 season, but Indianapolis Colts running back Salvon Ahmed was victimized by the illegal play Sunday during a team drill and suffered a severe lower right leg injury. The blow was administered by undrafted rookie free agent Trey Washington.
Colts head coach Shane Steichen said that Washington was shaken up by the incident and was clearly upset that his teammate was injured.
The Colts were conducting a live drill among backup players when the injury took place. Steichen's teams did very few live drills in his first two years with the team and he wanted to implement more of them this summer to help the team get used to hitting harder and absorbing aggressive hits. However, the injury suffered by Ahmed was not the result that Steichen and the Colts coaching staff wanted to see.
“Never want to see that happen,” Steichen said, per James Boyd of The Athletic. “I know we don't encourage hip-drop tackles. I know Trey's down in the dumps, and I don't think he's trying to do that. We're just trying to create an edge. … Those [backups] are going to have to tackle come preseason.”
Colts looking for more aggressive and effective defense in 2025
One of the reasons that Steichen wants to employ more live hitting this summer is that the team's defense was often ineffective last year. The Colts ranked 29th in total defense and struggled against the pass and the run.
They gave up multiple big plays through the air that resulted in the Colts falling behind in games, and their inability to stop the run gave opponents the opportunity to hold on to the football in the third and fourth quarters and take time off the clock. Those weaknesses put major pressure on the Indianapolis offense whenever the Colts were in comeback mode.
Ahmed has spent four seasons in the NFL, all with the Miami Dolphins. He was a backup with the Dolphins in each of those seasons, and he was fairly productive ass a rookie when he carried 75 times for 319 yards with 3 touchdowns. In the three seasons that followed, Ahmed totaled 274 yards and 2 touchdowns.
He signed with the Colts as a free agent earlier in the year with the hope of serving as a backup running back for starter Jonathan Taylor. The Colts ranked 8th in rushing offense last season as Taylor ran for 1,431 yards with a 4.7 yards per carry average and 11 touchdowns.
