The Indianapolis Colts used their third-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft on safety Julian Blackmon knowing full well they may start the season without him on the field.
After tearing his ACL in December, Blackmon has been rehabbing for the entirety of the offseason. Though he may not make an impact at the immediate start of the season, head coach Frank Reich says the rookie safety is getting closer to a return.
“Getting closer. I know he’s anxious to get back out there, but when you just drafted a young guy you don’t want to be over eager to get him out there,” Reich said Friday. “You get a guy this young and he heals this fast and is this strong, you can make the argument, ‘Yeah, we can push him out there, he could be ready and he could do it.’ But we have to be smart.”
With Malik Hooker and Khari Willis returning as the starters to go along with depth pieces George Odum and Tavon Wilson, the Colts won’t need Blackmon to take on a massive role at the start of the season.
This will help the Colts truly keep Blackmon on the track to recovery rather than having to rush him back, which is something Reich is stressing with the Utah product.
“This is for the long haul. He’s a rookie. He’s had no offseason with us. I think whatever the process is and where he is in the process, we’re just being very disciplined not to push him too soon,” Reich said. “That’s hard to do because even in the little bit that we see of him and even in his rehab and when you talk to him, you get a sense that this guy is going to be a really, really good player, but we have to stay disciplined in our approach.”
The Colts safety room has a lot of questions to answer, most of which resides with the aforementioned Hooker. But they will get a nice bump in depth when Blackmon does return from his ACL recovery.
