Colts defensive tackle DeForest Buckner was a limited participant again in practice Thursday, after being limited on Wednesday – which was his first practice since being placed on injured reserve with a neck injury prior to Week 10.

Buckner sustained the injury late in the first half of the Colts' Week 9 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. He figured he sustained a stinger, and he returned to the game in the second half.

But by the Wednesday after that game, he had lost all strength in the left side of his upper body. Buckner – one of the strongest players on the Colts – couldn't even do a push-up. A scan was done, and it turned out Buckner had a herniated disc in his neck that was pressing on a nerve.

Buckner knew he'd be out for at least four games, but he also didn't know if he'd need surgery to alleviate the issues he was having. The hope was, with treatment and rehab, his strength would return and he'd be able to avoid surgery.

Buckner flew to Panama to get stem cell injections in his neck – he saw the same doctors, who were recommended to him by a few ex-teammates with the San Francisco 49ers, last year when he was placed on injured reserve with a back injury. And then he began a grueling, lonely rehab process, spending hours at the Indiana Farm Bureau Football Center getting treatment while staying sharp working with his personal coach at Ozwell Fitness in Carmel.

And, eventually, Buckner began feeling better.

"It was definitely challenging day by day, especially early on when I didn't know if I was gonna get my strength back or not," Buckner said. "And it was a process, but I got to a spot where I was consistently getting strength, and obviously that was encouraging and brought a lot more confidence."

One thing Buckner did make sure of, though, was that he was on the plane with the Colts for road games against the Kansas City Chiefs and Jacksonville Jaguars. He was on the sidelines for those games, as well as the Colts' Week 13 home game against the Houston Texans, lending a voice when he could. Buckner also would pop into meetings during the week after he was done with treatment to try to help where he could.

"Trying to be a player coach as much as possible, and slash cheerleader," Buckner said. "It's definitely challenging. Being on IR, it can definitely be lonely, frustrating, because you're kind of not part of the team but you are part of the team."

Buckner still needs to be activated off injured reserve to play, as the Colts opened his 21-day window to begin practicing on Wednesday.

"We've been taking the right steps to get back on the field," Buckner said. "And you guys know how I am, I'm doing whatever I can to be out there on the field. Now that we opened my practice window, just seeing how we go moving forward."

Just because Buckner can be activated from injured reserve for Week 15 does not mean he's guaranteed to play Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field. Buckner can be activated off injured reserve any time in the next three weeks, and while he's pushing to get back on the field as soon as possible, on Thursday he remained unsure of when that'll exactly be.

"We're just taking it day by day, seeing how it goes," Buckner said. "Getting acclimated back out there and everything and seeing how my neck responds to consistently getting more volume."

Thursday's practice report: