When Xavien Howard puts on his pads and steps onto the field at Lucas Oil Stadium on Sunday, it will be the first time the cornerback has suited up for an NFL game in 616 days.
December 31, 2023 was the most recent gameday Howard has experienced; after sustaining a foot injury in the first quarter of the Miami Dolphins' game against the Baltimore Ravens, Howard did not play again in the regular season or postseason. He was then waived and not picked up by another team for the 2024 season.
After fully recovering from his injury, Howard turned his focus to continuing to stay in the best shape possible and be ready to answer the phone when the right team called him. And when the Colts picked up the phone, Howard knew that was the place he wanted to be.
"He doesn't have to do this," defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo said Tuesday. "I think he wants to go out there and prove to himself, to whoever, that he can play football and play it at a high level still."
In eight years with the Dolphins (100 games played), Howard has 95 passes defensed, 29 interceptions, five fumble recoveries, four forced fumbles and two sacks. He was a first-team All-Pro in 2020 and is a four-time Pro Bowler (2018, 2020-22).
The Colts quickly listed Howard as one of the team's starting cornerbacks on their unofficial depth chart when he signed with the team August 18, and he hasn't moved from that position as the Colts' season opener against the Dolphins draws near. Nothing about Howard's time away from the NFL concerned the Colts; he stayed in shape and his eight years of experience under multiple defensive coordinators, not to mention his two years playing under Anarumo in Miami, meant he wouldn't struggle to pick up plays.
"He came in in great shape," Anarumo said Tuesday.
And when Anarumo was asked about Howard's ability to take first-team snaps come Sunday, he offered some insight into how the Colts are looking at Howard's year away from the game.
"A veteran guy who gave his legs a year off and then got back into it now," Anarumo said. "And has been through basically three weeks of training camp and a week of game prep coming up. So, we'll see how it goes. We've got a bunch of able bodies there at that position, so we'll play it by ear."
