Colts suffer blow to OL with Ryan Kelly IR move

The Indianapolis Colts are getting bad news on Tuesday. Indianapolis is placing center Ryan Kelly on injured reserve, per NFL Network. It's a tough blow to the health of that unit, as Kelly is a veteran who will miss at least four games.

Indianapolis is 4-5 on the season, and has lost its last two games. Kelly has been dealing with calf and knee injuries, but played through the pain in a recent loss to the Minnesota Vikings. It appears the Colts center just wasn't able to keep going without getting extended medical treatment.

Kelly has played in the NFL since 2016. He's started 118 games for the Colts, per NBC Sports. Kelly is a four-time Pro Bowl selection.

Colts are looking for wins to salvage a tough season

Indianapolis has been an inconsistent team this season. The team is solid at home with a 3-1 mark, but only 1-4 on the road this campaign. Indianapolis has used different quarterbacks to try and find wins.

The Colts must now move forward without the anchor of their offensive line. Rookie Tanor Bortolini is expected to get plenty of snaps in the upcoming weeks at center. He's already played significant time at the position this year, due to other Kelly injuries.

Bortolini was selected in the fourth round of the 2024 NFL Draft by Indianapolis. He played his college football at Wisconsin.

Kelly and the Colts have been in negotiations for some time on a new contract. It's not clear how the center's injury will impact those talks. In the preseason, it didn't seem that Kelly was too enthused about his prospects for a long-term deal.

“From our standpoint, the Colts have basically made it pretty clear that they don’t want to do an early extension,” Kelly said in the preseason, per Indy Star. “It is what it is.”

Time will tell how long Kelly has to be out. He is not expected to be out the rest of the campaign. The Colts play the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.