The Colts on Wednesday opened Lewis’ 21-day practice window to return from injured reserve.
Colts defensive end Tyquan Lewis has had his fair share of injuries over the course of his seven years in the NFL; he’s dealt with a broken foot, a high ankle sprain and torn patellar tendons in both knees in back-to-back seasons (2021 and ’22). So, when he was placed on injured reserve after Week 4 with an elbow injury, it wasn’t really anything new, or off-putting, for him.
“This one was just a small bump in the road,” Lewis said Thursday. “Compared to knees, it’s totally different.”
“I never really get down on myself,” he added. “It’s more so like, how can we get better from it? Or, how can we just progress to get to where we was at, somehow, some form or fashion, you know, just attacking it everyday.”
The Colts on Wednesday opened Lewis’ 21-day practice window to be activated from injured reserve, allowing the defensive end to participate in practice starting immediately. Lewis can be activated from injured reserve any time in the next few weeks.
The Colts play the Detroit Lions on Sunday, but when asked if he thought he might be able to play, Lewis said they will continue to evaluate his progress throughout the week.
“We’ve just got to get adjusted to playing again,” he said.
Through four games in the 2024 season, Lewis totaled 17 tackles (10 solo), two tackles for loss, three quarterback hits and 1.5 sacks with 12 quarterback pressures, per Pro Football Focus. In his first six seasons in the NFL, Lewis compiled 95 tackles with 26 tackles for loss, 13.5 sacks, 10 passes defensed and one forced fumble in 65 games. He has 144 career quarterback pressures, including 2024.
Lewis isn’t the only Colts defensive lineman to have to come back from an elbow injury; his locker neighbor, defensive tackle DeForest Buckner, played through an elbow injury of his own in 2022.
“He’s the toughest one in the locker room, probably,” Lewis said. “He’s got all my respect. I watched him go through the elbow, I watched him go through a lot of things, the way he attacks rehab.”
Now, the two will have matching elbow braces, Lewis joked.
As is the case with any position group, the Colts’ defensive line is tight-knit – so, throughout his stint on injured reserve, Lewis made sure to stay as involved with his teammates as he possibly could. The group still had their typical Thursday dinners and Lewis stayed engaged during practice and on the sidelines, learning plays and talking with coaches to make sure he was ready to go when the time came for him to return to the field.
Thursday’s practice report:
