Defensive Tackle · Indianapolis Colts

DeForest Buckner

No. 99 · 11th season

Buckner's targeting Week 1 — his coach isn't so sure

There is a version of this where everything lines up fine. DeForest Buckner is back for the opener, the Indianapolis Colts are whole up front, and nobody thinks twice about the spring he missed. Shane Steichen is not quite ready to say that version is guaranteed.

Buckner is one of the better defensive linemen in football — a constant force in the middle who makes the people around him harder to block and harder to plan around. When he is out, the Colts are a different team.

He is working his way back from an injury, and the recovery has moved slower than at least one of his teammates: quarterback Daniel Jones was healthy enough to take part in the team's offseason practice sessions, while Buckner was not. The goal is Week 1. Whether that holds, his head coach can't say for certain.

For a team still figuring out what it can be this year, the timeline of their best defensive player matters more than a little. Right now, the honest answer is: it depends.

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