Colts Injury Report, Week 8: T.Y., Smith, Dayo, Turay- IN. Ben Banogu and Mike Strachan- OUT

The Indianapolis Colts released their inactive players list ahead of Sunday’s matchup against the Tennessee Titans.

Among those inactive are quarterback Sam Ehlinger, tackle Will Fries, wide receiver Mike Strachan, defensive end Ben Banogu, defensive end Isaac Rochell, cornerback Bopete Keyes and tackle Julien Davenport.

T.Y. Hilton returns for the second time this season after missing last weeks matchup with an injured quad. The Titans beat up secondary might prove to be a good game to return to for Hilton.

Starting right tackle Braden Smith finally returns to the lineup after dealing with injuries since week one. The offensive line is finally at full strength and will look to continue to improve as it has, steadily, all season long.

Promising but, oft injured, pass rusher Kemoko Turay will return today and anytime Turay gets a chance to show what he can do, is a rare but exciting day. Also playing today are corner backs Rock Ya-Sin and Xavier Rhodes. Rhodes had a gutsy performance in week seven against the 49ers that ended with an interception that would help seal the victory, but the injury he played with last week made week eight a question mark. Rock Ya-Sin, despite what you may have heard about the young cornerback in the past, has had a very good third NFL season for our Colts when he’s been on the field and today, Ya-Sin will return to action to hopefully continue looking like Indy’s best player at the position.

But the real story of the day (so far) is that the long awaited professional debut of rookie second round defensive linemen Dayo Odeyingbo will take place today against the Titans.

Odeyingbo was rumored to be on the Colts draft boards in the first round before the rest of the staff talked general manager Chris Ballard out of selecting the injured defensive linemen from Vanderbilt. Instead the team waited until the second round and took Dayo with the 54th overall pick of the 2021 NFL Draft. Even though Ballard hasn’t exactly had a stellar track record selecting pass rushers the fact that he thought enough of Odeyingbo to have to be talked out of selecting him in the first round should tell you that the Colts believe, when healthy, Odeyingbo is going to be a huge difference maker for a defense that has lacked any semblance of a consistent pass rush.

This might be the healthiest the Colts have been heading into a game all season and it couldn’t have come at a better time. This team is going to need all hands on deck to take on the division leading Titans in a game that could have major playoff implications for the rest of the season.

Let’s hope next week’s inactive report is identical to this one and the Colts continue their winning ways.

Go Colts.