The Colts are elevating a practice squad player that many thought would make the team's 53-man roster

The Indianapolis Colts are monitoring multiple injuries ahead of their Week 2 matchup against the Green Bay Packers. Following practice on Friday, the team elected to rule starting free safety Julian Blackmon out.

With the Colts down a safety the, the team announced they are elevating veteran safety Ronnie Harrison Jr.

The Colts aren't elevating Harrison to be a depth player on Sunday. The current expectation is that Harrison will operate as a starter, opposite Nick Cross, against the Packers. If I had to guess, they would give Harrison the FS spot and move Cross over to strong safety, which many view as a better fit for his skill set anyway.

Along with Harrison, the Colts also announced they are elevating defensive end Genard Avery. While he hasn't been ruled out, Colts starting edge rusher Kwity Paye missed the entire practice week. With the Colts choosing to elevate Avery, it seems safe to assume the team has serious concerns about Paye's chances of suiting up.

The Colts' puzzling decision to not elevate a veteran CB

Honestly, even if Paye can't go, I'm shocked the Colts chose to use their second elevation on a defensive end. The Colts made the decision to place second-year cornerback Juju Brents on the IR , which has a strong chance of being a season-ending injury. The team has added two veteran outside CBs to their practice squad over the past couple of weeks: David Long Jr. and Kelvin Joseph .

It seemed like the best plan for the Colts this week was to use their two practice squad elevations on the secondary. The first on Harrison Jr. to replace Blackmon, and the second on one of Long Jr or Joseph to give the Colts a more reliable option to play on outside if needed against the Packers. That isn't the route the Colts chose to take, and now they will be relying on Dallis Flowers or Samuel Womack III to grab the reigns on the opening starting job.

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