Defensive Tackle · Indianapolis Colts

DeForest Buckner

No. 99 · 11th season

Buckner cleared to practice after neck surgery as camp opens

Neck surgery is not a small thing. It is the kind of procedure that makes a team hold its breath through an offseason, and makes a player prove something just by showing up healthy.

DeForest Buckner has been one of the most dependable interior defenders in the league for years — the kind of player a defense is built around, the kind whose absence reshapes how a coordinator thinks about a whole unit. When he went under the knife this offseason, the Indianapolis Colts' front seven suddenly had a very large question mark at its center.

He has been cleared. Buckner is back on the practice field as training camp begins, and the Colts' defense looks a lot more like itself for it.

The timing matters. The first days of camp are where rotations take shape and younger players figure out where they fit. Having Buckner in the mix from the start — rather than watching from the side — is a different thing entirely for a defense trying to find its identity early.

What he does with the reps is the next question. The clearance is the first answer.

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