Jonathan Taylor on return to Colts: 'If somebody wasn't committed they wouldn't be here. Right now, I'm here.'
Jonathan Taylor did not want to dive into the topic of his contract dispute with the Indianapolis Colts when he spoke to the media Thursday. That much was clear.
The 24-year-old running back took part in practice Thursday after missing the first four games of the season while on the physically unable to perform list due to ankle surgery.
Surgery wasn't the only thing that kept Taylor busy in the offseason. A contract dispute with the Colts led to speculation that he had played his final game with the franchise. The public back-and-forth with team owner Jim Irsay garnered headlines, and a meeting between the two resulted in the running back requesting a trade.
But as Week 5 approaches, Taylor is healthy and ready to play again and keeping his focus to on-field matters only.
"I'm not here to get into any contract thing," Taylor said. "Those [talks] were over the course of the offseason. But the season is here. We've got the Tennessee Titans on the clock."
Any hope of clarity from Taylor himself about his desire for a long-term extension was dashed early on in his media availability.
"No. 1, first off, it feels really good to finally be healthy. The whole time the main goal was to be healthy, to go out there to do what I love, which is to play football," Taylor said when asked if he still wanted to be a Colt and if he had rescinded his trade request. "Just going through that journey throughout this whole time, been a lot of things said and done, but at the end of the day the No. 1 overall goal for everybody was for me to get healthy. I think everybody was on the same page with that."
The NFL trade deadline is Oct. 31, and it's anyone's guess if Taylor will still be a Colt come Halloween, let alone next season.
"I don't think it matters on if I'm saying I'm committed or not because I'm here," he said. "If somebody wasn't committed they wouldn't be here. Right now, I'm here. My No. 1 goal, really, is to attack this first practice."
The Colts explored the trade market for Taylor and set an Aug. 29 deadline for one to be consummated. That deadline came and went with the running back still with the team and an announcement that he would be placed on the PUP list.
Taylor recorded 3,841 rushing yards and 33 touchdowns over his first three seasons in Indianapolis. He will make $4.3 million this season, the final year of his four-year, $7.8 million rookie contract.
With Taylor sidelined, Zack Moss leads the team in rushing yards with 280 through four games and rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson behind him with 131. The Colts sit in a four-way tie with a 2-2 record in the AFC South.
The dynamic Richardson said he's eager to be on the field with Taylor this season.
"I know he's a great player and I know I can do some things pretty well," Richardson said. "Just trying to combine those two things, I can only imagine what it's like, but we won't see until it actually happens. We'll see and I'm excited."
How many opportunities Richardson will get to play with the 2021 NFL All-Pro back remains an unanswered question. And after a loud offseason between player and team regarding his future, it appears whatever work that's been done of late and still needs to be done will take place quietly behind closed doors.
"Like I said, I'm here right now," Taylor said when asked if he still wanted to be a Colt. "My No. 1 thing is to take care of my teammates. A lot of people worry about what I want. What I want doesn't matter. What matters is what this team needs, what this team wants, what this city wants, and what this city needs. What this city needs is a championship, and while I'm here that's what I'm going to work my tail off to do."
