Colts injuries: Funchess not ready for return; Hilton, Campbell ruled out vs. Jaguars

INDIANAPOLIS — For the first time since the opening week of the season, Devin Funchess is back on the practice field in shoulder pads and a helmet, running routes and catching passes.

But the jersey draped over the shoulder pads shows how far Funchess still has to go in his recovery from the broken collarbone he suffered in the season opener against the Chargers.

Funchess is wearing a red jersey, a sign to the rest of the Colts that he’s not fully healed, not ready to take a hit.

“That is one of the boxes that he has to check,” Indianapolis coach Frank Reich said. “He has to get certain things done, scans done and make sure this is fully cleared, ready to go. … You have to wait until it's completely healed.”

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Funchess, who was placed on the injured reserve list and designated to return, could technically return this week against the Jacksonville Jaguars. The NFL requires players on injured reserve to sit out eight games before returning; Funchess has done that.

The likelihood is that Funchess will have to wait a little longer. That's bad news for the Colts, who will play Sunday's game against Jacksonville Jaguars without the services of fellow wide receivers T.Y. Hilton (calf) and Parris Campbell (hand). Coach Frank Reich ruled both receivers out on Friday.

If Funchess had been healthy enough to play Sunday, he would have been a key figure in helping the Colts try to win their first game as a franchise without Hilton on the field (0-7). Unfortunately for the Colts, he's not there yet. 

“My bone’s still got to heal,” Funchess said. “I’m not going to go out there and try to re-break it.”

Funchess, who signed a one-year, $10 million deal with the Colts in the offseason, has never missed this much time before, not in high school, college or the NFL. In four years in Carolina, Funchess missed just three games.

Then he went up for a jump ball in the closing minutes of a tight game against the Chargers, landed awkwardly and realized this injury was different.

“I was very disappointed,” Funchess said. “I worked so hard to come in for the team, try to prove myself for this team, what I’m all about, and going down in the first game, it was drastic, but it’s life, and you’ve got to live on, keep on fighting.”

The problem is that there’s only so much fighting Funchess can do.

He’s not dealing with a muscle injury or a sprain, something that extra treatment and attention will help. A broken bone is a broken bone, and there’s nothing extra he can do, no early hours in the training room or specific exercise he can repeatedly do to fix the bone inside his shoulder.

“I’ve been trying since I got hurt, and it’s not a good process,” Funchess said. “You can’t control a bone. It’s healing when it wants to heal.”

Finally getting back on the practice field is a good sign.

Funchess might be wearing a red jersey, but at least he’s out there. The Colts have three weeks to activate him to the 53-man roster, and once he comes back, Funchess likely will play a key role in bolstering a wide receiving corps that has been battered since he first went down. T.Y. Hilton has missed the past two games with a calf injury; Parris Campbell broke his hand against Pittsburgh and likely won’t be back until Dec. 1 against Tennessee.

Zach Pascal has stepped up this season with 21 catches for 347 yards and four touchdowns, but with the other three out of action and Deon Cain unable to live up to the potential he showed in training camp, Marcus Johnson had to take 56 snaps last week against the Dolphins, right after he was called up to the active roster.

Funchess has tried to help from the sidelines.

But the Colts need him on the field, and although the bone in his shoulder still has to heal, being back on the practice field is a sign that he’s finally making the progress he needs to make.

“It feels good,” Funchess said. “I got to see the speed of the game again, got to go against DBs, overall, it was just blissful.”

When those scans finally come back the way he needs them to look, he’ll feel even better.

In other Colts injury news, running back Jordan Wilkins (ankle) and tight end Mo Alie-Cox (hip) are questionable to play Sunday, while cornerback Pierre Desir (hamstring) is doubtful. Desir hasn't played since the Week 7 win against Houston. 

Despite missing last week's game with a knee injury, quarterback Jacoby Brissett enters the game as the team's starter and without an injury designation.