Indianapolis, IN
Why former starting CB Jaylon Jones is buried on Colts depth chart
INDIANAPOLIS — The fall Jaylon Jones has taken down the Colts depth chart has been one of the most surprising developments of this season.
Jones, a full-time starter in his first two years in Indianapolis, played only four defensive snaps against the 49ers on Monday, a night when Jones was the team’s clear-cut fifth cornerback despite injuries to Sauce Gardner and Charvarius Ward.
Monday night’s game was the fourth time in seven games that Jones has played fewer than five snaps, and from the sounds of it, even an abysmal defensive performance that hemorrhaged 440 yards and 41 points is no guarantee that Jones will be elevated on the depth chart for this week’s game against Jacksonville.
“We evaluate each guy each week, and certainly, everything will be up at that position to be evaluated going forward,” defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo said. “We’ll look at all avenues.”
The team’s reluctance to play Jones stems from a hamstring injury that plagued the third-year cornerback throughout the summer.
Jones first suffered the hamstring injury during organized team activities in the summer, injured it again a couple of days into training camp and pulled it significantly again in the season opener, robbing Jones of precious time to learn how he fits in Anarumo’s scheme.
“Obviously, starting the year with the injury kind of set him back,” Colts defensive backs coach Jerome Henderson said. “If we would have had him throughout all of training camp and continuing to play, obviously, I think he plays better.”
Jones has never been through an injury like that one.
He dealt with a significant hamstring injury in college that forced him to miss the first two games of a season, but Jones had never missed that much time before.
The experience taught him something.
“Trusting my process, man, understanding I need to do all the right things, make sure my body’s ready to go and I’m available,” Jones said. “A learning experience.”
The time in the training room seems to have driven a wedge between Jones and the field. Jones has played 149 defensive snaps in seven games this season, starting against Pittsburgh and Jacksonville, but he hasn’t been able to hold onto that spot consistently. In those snaps, Jones has limited opponents to 9 of 18 passing for 117 yards, a touchdown and an 89.4 rating when he’s the nearest defender in coverage, according to the NFL’s Next Gen Stats.
But Indianapolis has consistently chosen trade pickup Mekhi Blackmon over Jones in a pinch; now, undrafted rookie Johnathan Edwards and street free agent Cameron Mitchell have passed a player who started 27 games the past two seasons and played 1,932 snaps for the Colts. Of those three, only Blackmon has a better rating against him than Jones (88.4) and he’s given up a higher completion rate.
Henderson rebuffed a question last week about whether Jones is a poor fit for Anarumo’s defense.
“None of them are perfect,” Henderson said. “Even the best ones have things in their game you wish you could tweak and change. … You try to grow them in the area he needs to grow, keep him confident in the areas that he’s really good at. If he’s in, use him to his strengths.”
Indianapolis believes the 6-2, 200-pound Jones is best suited to playing against tight ends.
“He’s doing well in the role that he plays,” Henderson said. “He’s going to go guard the really good tight end pass-catchers in this league.”
From a philosophical standpoint, the role sounds weighty, particularly for an Indianapolis defense that has given up the second-most yards in the NFL to tight ends this season.
Practically, Jones is playing more of a bit part.
Anarumo has talked a lot about getting more defensive backs onto the field to avoid pitting a tight end against linebackers regularly, and Jones seems to be the perfect solution.
Except that the Colts actually reserve those looks for a handful of passing situations each game. If a team attacks Indianapolis on first or second down, an opposing tight end is often looking for holes in the zone against Colts linebackers Zaire Franklin and Germaine Pratt.
“We don’t go into any game looking at linebackers covering tight ends at all,” Anarumo said. “Our deal is to try to match up, and that would be more in the true passing situations. … That was a little bit of the predicament last night.”
Jones is handling his reduced role without complaining publicly.
He has tried to focus on his own game, rather than the decisions that have kept him on the sidelein.
“Looking in the mirror, being consistent within myself, within my game,” Jones said. “Once I do that, I think it takes care of everything else. … Being consistent with my process, zoning in on the little details. I’m just happy doing my role, playing my role, trying to help my team win games.”
But it has not been easy.
“In moments like this, just growing,” Jones said. “I think I became more of a man this year, just because there’s going to be adversity in the road, there’s going to be bumps in the road, things like that, but I’m just doing my role, doing what I can for this team so we can win games.”
Even though it’s hard to play a big role in a team’s wins or losses when a cornerback spends all but a handful of snaps on the sideline.
Joel A. Erickson and Nathan Brown cover the Colts all season. Get more coverage on IndyStarTV and with the Colts Insider newsletter.
Indianapolis, IN
Planned Parenthood closing 2 Indy clinics, citing loss of federal money
How an Indiana abortion ruling could expand access in red states
When Indiana’s abortion ban was struck down in part, it presented a potential path for similar challenges in other states that could broaden access.
Planned Parenthood will shutter two Indianapolis clinics, leaving its Georgetown Road facility as the only local branch of the nationwide organization.
The Midtown and Southside locations will close effective Friday, April 3. The Georgetown health center will have “additional appointment availability and services” in the wake of the closure, according to Planned Parenthood’s regional website.
Patients receiving ongoing care like birth control or hormone replacement therapy can continue to do so through telehealth or by visiting another Planned Parenthood location, the website said.
“Because of changes to federal funding, including the loss of Medicaid reimbursements, we are making difficult but necessary adjustments to our health center network so we can continue caring for patients in our communities for years to come,” an FAQ posted with the closure announcement read in part.
Planned Parenthood estimated in 2024 that about half of patients receive care paid through either Medicaid or the Title X family planning program, which covers contraception and STI screening for low-income Americans. The Trump administration has moved to block the organization from receiving money from both streams.
Trump’s signature budget legislation, the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” passed in July 2025 with a provision banning clinics that provide abortion, including Planned Parenthood, from receiving Medicaid reimbursement for one year.
It has been illegal since 1976 to use federal dollars, including Medicaid, to cover abortion unless it’s necessary to save a life or to terminate a pregnancy caused by rape or incest. Planned Parenthood does not perform any abortions in Indiana, as the state’s near-total ban only allows the procedure to be performed in narrow circumstances at hospitals or their surgery centers.
For months, Planned Parenthood contested the constitutionality of the Medicaid funding ban in various federal courts, dropping its case on Jan. 30, 2026, after an appeals court ruled in the government’s favor.
Though the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services restored Title X money to clinics in December 2025 after withholding it for eight months, recipients learned last week that they have one week to reapply for funding. That’s typically a months-long process, and more than 100 congressional Democrats are asking HHS to extend current grants for another year, NPR reported on March 17.
Ryan Murphy is the communities reporter for IndyStar. She can be reached at rhmurphy@indystar.com.
Indianapolis, IN
Former Colts wide receiver T.Y. Hilton announces retirement
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Former Colts wide receiver T.Y. Hilton announced his retirement from the NFL on Wednesday.
Hilton played for the Colts from 2012-2021. He hauled in 638 catches for 9,812 yards and 53 touchdowns in his time in Indianapolis.
Hilton led the NFL in receiving yards in 2016 with 1,448 yards. He had five 1,000-plus yard seasons and was named to the Pro Bowl four times.
Hilton last played in the NFL in 2022, playing three games for the Dallas Cowboys.
He announced his retirement by posting to X (formerly Twitter):
“After an incredible journey, it’s time for me to retire from the game of football and begin a new chapter.
Thank you to Mr. Irsay, his family and the entire Colts organization for believing in a kid from Miami and giving me the opportunity to live out my dream wearing the horseshoe.
I also want to thank the Cowboys organization for giving me the opportunity to continue playing the game I love.
To my teammates – thank you for the brotherhood. The early mornings, long practices, and the battles on Sundays are memories I’ll carry with me forever.
To the fans in Indy, your support meant everything to me from day one. I’ll never forget running out of that tunnel at Lucas Oil Stadium for the first time.
And at the heart of it all, I want to thank my family and friends. Thank you for the sacrifices, the constant support and for believing in me. I would not have been able to live out this dream without you.
Forever a Colt.”
Indianapolis, IN
Warmer throughout the week as spring officially begins | March 18, 2026
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH-TV) – Temperatures begin to warm today and into the end of the week. We are going to see some very light precipitation tomorrow morning but other than that looking for a dry pattern through the end of the weekend. Spring officially begins on Friday and we will see our temperatures more spring-like by the end of the week and into the weekend.
TODAY: A warm front lifts northward this morning and produces a few light snow showers across parts of the metro area. Not a lot of measurable precipitation expected with this system. Look for mainly cloudy conditions for the first part of the day and then some sunshine later in the afternoon. High temperatures will climb right around 47 degrees. This is still below normal but much closer to normal than what we had yesterday. Winds pick up a little bit out of the south and may gust at times to 20 miles per hour.
TONIGHT: Dry conditions if you are heading to the Pacers game this evening. Partly cloudy conditions overnight with winds dropping. Temperatures will fall into the thirties.
TOMORROW: A weak system passes through the Great Lakes bringing us a chance for a few light rain showers. We will start the day off with some cloud cover and then sunshine for the afternoon. High temperatures climb above normal with readings close to 60.
7 DAY EXTENDED FORECAST: Even warmer temperatures as we officially begin the first day of spring on Friday. Look for highs right around 67 degrees with mainly sunny skies.
Temperatures continue to climb and will be close to 70 on Saturday under partly cloudy skies. We can’t rule out a brief shower on Sunday. Temperature still above normal into the sixties. Heading into next week temperatures return back to normal with highs in the 50s.
-
Oklahoma5 days agoFamily rallies around Oklahoma father after head-on crash
-
Nebraska7 days agoWildfire forces immediate evacuation order for Farnam residents
-
Southeast1 week ago‘90 Day Fiancé’ alum’s boyfriend on trial for attempted murder over wild ‘Boca Bash’ accusations
-
Detroit, MI21 hours agoDrummer Brian Pastoria, longtime Detroit music advocate, dies at 68
-
Georgia3 days agoHow ICE plans for a detention warehouse pushed a Georgia town to fight back | CNN Politics
-
Massachusetts1 week agoMassachusetts community colleges to launch apprenticeship degree programs – The Boston Globe
-
Alaska4 days agoPolice looking for man considered ‘armed and dangerous’
-
Colorado1 week ago‘It’s Not a Penalty’: Bednar Rips Officials For MacKinnon Ejection | Colorado Hockey Now