Taylor is expected to require 3-to-5 weeks to recover from the right thumb surgery he underwent Wednesday in Los Angeles, sources tell Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.
The estimated recovery timeline provided by Rapoport differs slightly from the one Colts owner Jim Irsay initially offered up Tuesday, when he said the star running back would be sidelined for 2-to-3 weeks, according to James Boyd of The Athletic. Because it's not a given that Taylor will need to miss at least four games while recovering from the procedure, the Colts will hold off on placing him on injured reserve with the hope that he'll be ready to play Week 16 in Atlanta or possibly even Week 15 versus Pittsburgh. At least for the next two games, however, Zack Moss is primed to step in as the Colts' lead back, a role he handled between Weeks 2 and 4 while Taylor was completing his recovery from January ankle surgery. Moss played more than three-fourths of the Colts' offensive snaps in each of those three contests while averaging 24.0 touches per game, so he could end up handling one of the heavier workloads among all backs in the league for however long Taylor is sidelined.