Head coach Shane Steichen said Monday the Colts are not considering placing cornerback Sauce Gardner on injured reserve, and the two-time first-team AP All-Pro's Achilles is intact after he sustained a calf injury in the first quarter of the Colts' Week 13 loss to the Houston Texans on Sunday.
Steichen said Gardner will "miss some time" but the Colts expect him to return at some point this season. Had he been placed on injured reserve, Gardner would've been sidelined for at least the Colts' next four games (Weeks 14-17).
Steichen on Monday did not have a timetable for when Gardner could return.
The Colts acquired Gardner in a deadline deal on Nov. 4, sending their 2026 and 2027 first-round picks along with wide receiver Adonai Mitchell to the New York Jets in exchange for the 24-year-old cornerback.
Gardner will be the latest Colts cornerback to be sidelined due to injury this season. Kenny Moore II (Weeks 4-6), Charvarius Ward Sr. (Week 2, Weeks 6-10) and Jaylon Jones (Weeks 2-8) all have previously missed time; Mike Hilton, who was elevated from the Colts' practice squad and played in Weeks 4 and 5, has been on the practice squad injured list since sustaining an injury in Week 5. And third-round pick Justin Walley, who was tracking toward starting this season, was placed on season-ending injured reserve following a torn ACL he sustained in a joint practice with the Baltimore Ravens during training camp in August.
