Colts can flip latest injury news into a blessing in disguise by taking advantage of the new NFL rule

The Indianapolis Colts received devasting news Tuesday: Third-year TE Jelani Woods' toe injury was worse than they originally thought , and he will now have surgery to repair it.

This means the team now has to decide Woods' future with the team.

What should the Colts do following Jelani Woods' injury

While the Colts could react to his injury in multiple ways, I see three most likely scenarios. The first would be place him on the injury reserve now. This would mean Woods is out for the entire year, meaning he would have missed the entirety of two of his first three years in the NFL. The next would be cutting ties with Woods part of their cuts to get down to 53, ending his time with the team in devasting fashion in what looked like a promising career. Or a brand new third option that I think could solve two problems at once for the Colts.

Utilizing the NFL's two new IR spots

This year, the NFL announced a new rule regarding two IR spots. This new rule allows teams to place two players on the IR on cutdown day and designate them to return without first placing them on their 53-man roster. This allows teams to give two other players roster spots instead of keeping injured players on the roster and waiving others to start the year. The Colts have two easy candidates to use this on, in my opinion, in Woods and Samson Ebukam, who suffered a torn Achilles early on in training camp . The team has yet to place Ebukam on the season-ending IR, which tells me they want to give him a shot to rehab his injury and potentially return late into the season.

With Woods, this injury comes after a rocky training camp where many believe he had failed behind in the team's battle at the tight end position. Their final spot in the TE room seemed to be between Woods and Will Mallory. Designating Woods as one of these two IR spots would allow the Colts to keep both Woods and Mallory on their roster while also letting Woods rehab and potentially rejoin the team down the line this season. This injury for Woods is no question devasting, as you never want to see a young player miss time. But this new rule by the NFL can at least soften the blow for both Woods and the Colts if they choose to utilize it.

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