WESTFIELD — The first big loss of this Colts season has already happened.

Three practices into training camp, Indianapolis lost defensive end Samson Ebukam, the team’s returning leader in sacks, to a torn Achilles tendon, leaving a void in the franchise’s plans to field a deep, devastating defensive line.

The early word from the Colts is that the team plans to lean on that depth to replace Ebukam.

“Kwity (Paye), Dayo (Odeyingbo), (Laiatu) Latu, it’s time,” Colts coach Shane Steichen said. “Those guys need to step up.”

Colts news: With Colts' DE Samson Ebukam out with injury, Latu reps amp up

The rookie has already volunteered to take Ebukam’s weight and put it on his shoulders.

“I’m just trying to carry what he was providing for the team, and I’m trying to boost that up so it doesn’t feel like we’re missing anybody,” Latu said.

Latu was already the most natural choice to fill the bulk of the 702 snaps Ebukam played last season.

The two men play the same position. While veterans like Paye, Odeyingbo and Tyquan Lewis are heavier, more powerful players suited to play the “Big” end position in defensive coordinator Gus Bradley’s defense, Latu is a natural “LEO,” the defensive end spot Bradley created long ago to give undersized pass rushers a better chance to get on the field.

Colts camp observations: First-rounder Laiatu Latu dominates on first day in pads

Ebukam was an all-around weapon at the spot, capable of handling the run better than most LEOs.

But Latu has the speed, the agility, the bend and the natural pass rush instincts to fully embody the position’s true purpose as the team’s primary weapon against the quarterback.

“You take him at 15, first defensive player off the board because he’s a heck of a football player,” Steichen said. “That’s why we took him. We’re excited for the future.”

Latu likely will not be asked to shoulder the entire load of replacing the 702 snaps Ebukam played last season. When the Colts drafted the UCLA star, they added him to a defensive end position that already had four starting-caliber options, although Odeyingbo and Lewis often rush from the interior.

Indianapolis will likely give some snaps against the run to players like Paye, Odeyingbo and Lewis, players with bigger bodies and a history of setting the edge on the outside.

“We all contribute in different ways,” Lewis said. “We’ve still got a lot of great leaders in that room. We have a void to fill — he was our sack leader last year — but we’ve got to come in waves.”

The Colts believe Latu can be the top of that wave, crashing down on quarterbacks from the outside.

From the moment Indianapolis drafted Latu, the Colts coaching staff and front office started saying they believed Latu had the polish to be an impact player right away, the kind of expectation that general manager Chris Ballard rarely places on rookies.

Indianapolis believes that deeply in Latu’s natural ability as a pass rusher after he piled up 24 sacks and 35.5 tackles-for-loss in two seasons at UCLA.

When Ballard and Steichen watched film of Latu rushing — coming off both edges of the defensive line, spinning up the middle — they came away convinced that he already knows how to use his remarkable athleticism, bend and quickness to get to the quarterback.

“His motor that he had, after plays, you could see it,” Steichen said. “Even if he gets around the edge and the quarterback steps up, boom, he’s turning and running, trying to go get him. That’s what really stood out to me, was his relentlessness.”

Latu has already put his abilities on display in training camp, starring in the first day of full pads on Tuesday with a handful of rushes off both sides of the ball that left two of the team’s top three tackles, left tackle Bernhard Raimann and swing tackle Blake Freeland, clutching for air as Latu bore down on the quarterback.

Indianapolis was already hoping he could be that kind of weapon off the edge, helping take the pass rush to the next level. The Colts piled up an Indianapolis-era record with 51 sacks last season, but their pressure rates were inconsistent, largely due to the lack of a premier edge rusher.

Ebukam’s injury intensifies the need for Latu to be that kind of player right away. The two players trained together in the offseason, and Ebukam had already been helping Latu make the transition to the NFL level.

“That’s my big bro, so when I saw he went down, I was hella sad,” Latu said. “Pre-draft, after-draft, pre-practice, he’s been a big brother to me, helping me work on my get-off, working on different moves, watching film with him, learning from him.”

And keep the pass rush rolling.

The Colts need Latu to take over for Ebukam now.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Colts first-rounder Laiatu Latu ready to fill Ebukam's void