Halfway through the 2025 season, the Colts secondary had all the pieces it needed to be successful. Kenny Moore II, Charvarius Ward Sr. and Sauce Gardner would be the starters, with a contingent of young backups who had already played significant snaps. Gardner's arrival in Week 10 sparked a renewed sense of hope for the group, who was ready to finally show off its potential.
But Moore, Ward and Gardner only appeared in one game together, in Week 13 against the Kansas City Chiefs. The trio, who share between them countless accolades and years of proven experience, only played 77 snaps together.
Ward missed 10 games with concussions and/or concussion-like symptoms, including two stints on injured reserve. Gardner was limited to just four of eight possible games he could have played in after being acquired from the New York Jets prior to Week 10 with a calf injury – and in one of those four games, he registered just two snaps before sustaining that calf injury. Even Moore missed three games early in the season with an Achilles injury.
In total, 10 cornerbacks saw playing time – and significant time, at that – for the Colts this season. Mekhi Blackmon led the team with 766 snaps, followed by Moore with 663 and Ward with 458. Young players like Johnathan Edwards and Cameron Mitchell, who combined for over 500 snaps, got more opportunities to prove themselves, but the veterans who were meant to anchor the unit on the field weren't able to always do so.
There's no hiding from the fact that the Colts did not meet their own expectations for the season, and Moore said as much himself. But with the 2025 season coming to a close, the focus now fully shifts to putting in the work in the offseason and – for those players who sustained injuries – getting healthy in all aspects.
"We didn't meet our goals this year," Moore said. "We didn't meet them. So we're going to attack this offseason and make sure you don't feel that feeling again."
For Ward, though, this offseason requires even more thought and consideration than the rest of his teammates: he has to decide if he wants to continue his football career.
The 29-year-old, who sustained two concussions during the season and has dealt with severe headaches and other symptoms after, said on Monday he is evaluating all of his options this offseason as he processes what his injuries may lead to long-term.
"I got a lot of life to live out of football, I gotta think about my family, kids too," Ward said. "We'll see. Got some decisions to make, for sure."
Ward's second concussion, which came in a freak collision during pregame warmups in Week 6, placed him on injured reserve as he worked through an injury he described as "traumatic." He returned in Week 12 and appeared in three more games, but was once again placed on injured reserve in December after reporting recurring concussion symptoms.
Ward said he hopes to come back next season and will be working towards coming back as the best version of himself — "I'm definitely motivated to get better and potentially be the best Mooney I can be next season," he said — but that he also has to keep in perspective the severity of brain injuries and what he envisions for his future.
"You don't really see it 'til you get older sometimes," he said. "I'm still a pretty young guy, I know the more I beat my brain up, the more it'll affect me as I get older.
"I had a great career so far. I'm proud of the career I had. I done made a lot of money, I feel like my family's taken care of. So if I come back or I don't come back, (I'll) still live the life I want to live and be happy. I think that's the most important thing, being happy, because football is just a game, you know, it goes away. So I'm worried about being a good dad to my kids and a good man to my family. So I think that's the most important thing in my life right now."
"I feel like I got to make it ASAP, cause I got to let the team know," Ward added about the timing of his decision. "Just talk to my family, see how I feel about everything."
Ward said the talent in the Colts cornerback room is a strong motivator to return next year, though, because he knows the kind of talent and potential they have going forward. Gardner's takeaways from his time as a member of the Colts were the same, and his future with the Colts is much clearer.
"We got games we should've won, games that were decided by three points or less," Gardner said Monday. "It's the little things — if we would've won a few of those games, we would be there...I'm excited for what the future's got for us. I'm looking forward to it."
Gardner, who sustained his calf injury within the first few minutes of the Colts' Week 13 game against the Houston Texans, said on Monday that he isn't concerned about it affecting him long-term.
"I really think that I only messed it up because the week before that, I think we played 96 plays and I played all 90-something," he said (he did, in fact, play all 96 snaps against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 12). "It probably was just tired or something like that, because I don't usually have calf injuries, I take care of them so well. But I'm not concerned about that at all though."
The All-Pro cornerback also expressed his excitement for what the Colts defense could be capable of next year, with everyone healthy and ready to go.
"I don't like to toot my own horn and stuff like that," Gardner said. "But I definitely think next year, I know I'm gonna be healthy and we're going to be a top defense."
