Henry Anderson

Henry Anderson and Vontae Davis Could Make Regular Season Debut on Sunday

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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The Indianapolis Colts may be receiving some much-needed defensive reinforcements this weekend as both Henry Anderson and Vontae Davis could make their regular season debuts, while rookie safety T.J. Green appears poised to return from a one-week absence.

Head coach Chuck Pagano said that he was “hopeful” for Anderson to play on Sunday, and that Davis “looked good” in practice for the Colts–with both being full participants in practice on Friday.

“He looks good,” said Pagano on Davis. “He looks good. Again, practice is practice, and game speed is game speed. So we’ve got to do a great job of rotating those guys (cornerbacks) in and keeping an eye on him.”

“He’s looked good. He did a great job. Trainers did a great job of getting (him) to this point. There’s going to be some rust to knock off, but I’m hopeful and encouraged that he’ll go play well.”

Obviously, Davis’ return would be a big boost to the Colts secondary, who are already missing fellow starter Patrick Robinson (concussion), as well as nickelback Darius Butler (hamstring)–both of whom are already ruled out for Sunday.

Jan 4, 2015; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Indianapolis Colts cornerback Vontae Davis (21) during the third quarter in the 2014 AFC Wild Card playoff football game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

The Colts won’t have the luxury of playing the likes of Trevor Siemian this week, as the San Diego Chargers Philip Rivers comes to down–a longtime franchise nemesis, fresh off of a 4 touchdown performance against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Expect more of an offensive shoot-out like Week 1 against the Detroit Lions than the grind-it-out style game we saw last weekend.

Therefore, having both Davis and Green back for this matchup, comes at a time where the team’s short-handed secondary may have otherwise been destroyed by Rivers’ high profile passing attack.

Meanwhile, having Anderson back–who was a full participant all week in practice, is key for the Colts, as the promising 2nd-year player was among the team’s best defensive lineman before suffering a season-ending torn ACL near midseason of last year.

Particularly, Anderson has shown a knack for being one of the league’s premier run-stuffers at defensive end during his short stint in the NFL.

Either way, it’s certainly encouraging news for the Colts as the team should be getting some key defensive players back soon.