INDIANAPOLIS – On Friday afternoon, we got our first answer to the myriad of cornerback questions that face the Colts this weekend.
The team elected to waive/injure D'Joun Smith, after knee and ankle injuries limited the second-year corner to just one preseason game (15 snaps) in 2016.
Unfortunately, injuries have followed Smith everywhere in his little more than a year of professional football.
Last season, the Colts had to use the short-term IR designation on Smith.
After missing the first nine games of 2015, Smith played just 20 snaps the rest of the season and eventually was placed on injured reserve in December.
Smith, a 2015 third-round pick out of Florida Atlantic, was expected to push Darius Butler for game reps in 2016.
But once again injuries squashed any chance of that happening.
Last week, Chuck Pagano spoke to the injury troubles Smith has had to deal with this preseason.
"You would've loved to have seen (Smith) and we would've loved to have seen him out on the field, but he hasn't been able to do that," Pagano said. "He dealt with the knee and got that well and then he got rolled up from behind when he got back on the field and got an ankle injury.
"There is not much we can do about that. All we can control is what he is doing today and he is rehabbing."
If Smith clears waivers, he will revert to the team's injured reserve.
The Colts now have nine cornerbacks remaining on their 74-man roster.
Injuries will still play a role in who rounds out that corner group this weekend.
Saturday at 4:00 p.m. ET is the deadline for the Colts to cut their roster down to 53.
