Colts place draft pick on injured reserve, cut UIndy product Toriano Clinton

WESTFIELD — The Colts have already lost one draft pick for the season and cut loose a local product who was hoping to beat the odds at the NFL level.

Indianapolis placed offensive tackle Jake Witt, a seventh-round pick, on injured reserve on Saturday, ending Witt’s rookie season before it had a chance to begin.

Witt has been dealing with a hip injury suffered shortly after the start of training camp, but the decision to place the rookie tackle on injured reserve is somewhat surprising.

The Colts initially thought Witt would be back soon.

“He got a little hip in practice the other day,” Indianapolis head coach Shane Steichen said last week. “He’s getting back; he should be back.”

Witt has been on the sidelines as an observer for a week, a sign the Colts initially thought the injury was less severe than it ultimately turned out to be. In a case where a player suffers an injury that’s clearly season-ending, the team typically puts him on injured reserve immediately.

Indianapolis also waived Toriano Clinton, the UIndy running back who put up eye-popping numbers in college and was initially signed five days ago to fill the hole left by the broken arm Zack Moss suffered in practice.

But the Colts signed veteran running back Kenyan Drake on Friday, adding experience to a position group that’s missing its top two backs — star running back Jonathan Taylor is on the active/physically unable to perform list with an ankle injury, and Moss is expected to be out roughly six weeks.

Indianapolis filled those two spots on the roster by signing well-traveled tight end Nick Eubanks and a familiar face in tight end Michael Jacobson, a former college basketball player at Iowa State who has spent most of the last two seasons on the Colts practice squad.

Second-year tight end Jelani Woods, who is expected to play a key role for Indianapolis this season, suffered a hamstring injury this week, and the Colts also released veteran tight end Kaden Smith, leaving the tight end position a little thin this early in training camp.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Colts place draft pick on injured reserve, cut local running back