The Indianapolis Colts will be without star running back Jonathan Taylor, who is out with a thumb injury. The team will look to fourth-year running back Zack Moss to take over the lead role in the position this week against the Tennessee Titans.
Moss has played in 10 games this year, starting five. The 25-year-old says his previous experience coming in for an injured Taylor has prepared him for this.
"I've already kind of done it before," Moss said (via the team's official site). "Now's the time to do it again. That's why you prepare every day, you never know what's going to happen in this league."
Taylor missed the first four games of the season due to an ankle injury he suffered last season.
Moss has stepped up, clocking two 100-yard games earlier this season. His first was a 122-yard performance in Week 3 against the Ravens and his second was a 165-yard game in Week 5 against the Titans.
From Week 2 through Week 6, he led the league in rushing with 466 yards and had the most scrimmage yards of all running backs in the NFL with 576.
So far this season, Moss has 672 rushing yards on 141 carries, with five touchdowns. Moss already has racked up the most rushing yards and rushing touchdowns of his career. He also has 18 receptions for 138 yards and one receiving touchdown.
He will have to step up again, with Taylor expected to miss multiple weeks. Acccording to Colts owner Jim Irsay, Taylor will have surgery on his thumb and is expected to miss at least 2-3 weeks. Indy's next three games are against the Titans, Bengals and Steelers.
When Taylor is in, Moss' role diminishes, but with RB1 out, Moss will have the chance to to prove himself once again. Moss' teammates feel confident that he can get the job done, because they've already seen him do it.
"Obviously losing JT hurts, but man, having Zack don't hurt," linebacker Zaire Franklin said.
Quarterback Gardner Minshew also chimed in, saying, "When he's, like, really playing, he's leading the league. One of the best in the league, can make guys miss, getting some really hard yards you wouldn't expect. Excited to get him rolling again."
Moss was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the third round of the 2020 NFL Draft. He joined the Colts during the 2022 season.
