Report: Isaiah McKenzie (WR) and Tony Brown (CB) will be on the reserve/suspended chart to the rest of the season.
Multiple sources say that the Indianapolis Colts have put cornerback Tony Brown and receiver Isaiah McKenzie on the injured reserve/suspended list over the rest of the 2023 season because they “did something detrimental to the tea.”
The Colts made the moves public on Tuesday via social media. They also made a few other changes to their roster.
The reason why both players were suspended is unknown, but ESPN’s Stephen Holder said that this was a “rare” and “not common at all” move.
Many people were surprised to see that Brown and McKenzie were on Indianapolis’ inactive list before their Week 15 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Both players have played a lot of snaps this season on special teams and when the team needs them.
The Colts have had a lot of players get suspended this summer and during the season. Former back Isaiah Rodgers Sr. or defensive tackle Grover Stewart are two examples.
Rodgers Sr. was banned indefinitely and then waived in June for breaking the NFL’s rules about gambling. Stewart also had to sit out six games because he broke the NFL’s PED rules in October.
After both Brown and McKenzie were suspended, the Colts made moves to their team that made sense.
Even though not much information has been released, it is essential to keep an eye on this issue going forward.
The Indianapolis Colts said on Tuesday that wide receive Isaiah McKenzie and cornerback Tony Brown will not play in any more regular season games because they did something bad that hurt the team.
The Colts did not say more about the behavior. It wasn’t clear what Brown or McKenzie did that got them suspended. When the playoffs began this week, the Colts would have been the seventh seed.
Brown and McKenzie seemed both surprised to be healthy scratches before the Steelers’ 30–13 win on Saturday.
The 8-6 Colts are fighting to stay in the playoff picture as the news of their bans comes in. There has been one start for Brown this season, and he has played in 12 games as a fifth-year pro.
He has 10 stops, one interception, a single fumble forced, and one pass defensed. Over the course of six kickoff returns, he has gained 152 yards, or 25.3 yards per return.
In his seventh season as a pro, McKenzie has played in 13 games and started two of them. He also does most of the team’s return work.
Eleven of his catches have gained 82 yards, and 23 of his returns have gained 204 yards, or 8.9 yards per return.
Yesterday, the Indianapolis Colts beat the Pittsburgh Steelers. They are now 8-6 on the season, which puts them in seventh place in the AFC postseason race. They were both suspended for three games, but it’s still not clear what they did wrong.
However, wide receiver Isaiah McKenzie or cornerback Tony Brown were both healthy scratches before the game. Both are professionals who haven’t had the best 2023 season that they likely wanted.
At first, the Colts thought this might have been because of a thing they saw on the field. Receiver D.J. Montgomery arrived and had two catches for 48 yards and a touchdown, and special teams worked well without Brown.
Head coach Shane Steichen is holding everyone in the Colts locker room responsible. This means that if there is anything that could distract the team, it will be handled in a professional and polite way.
This is likely to keep going for the Colts with Montgomery at the receiver position instead of McKenzie.
Along with being a slot receiver, Josh Downs, a rookie, also did the return duties on Saturday. This is expected to continue going forward.
Brown has had trouble at cornerback this season. Brown was an important part of Brian Mason’s special teams, and they will miss him.
We’ll see if these bans have any effect on the team as the Colts try to make the playoffs, which was not expected.