Taylor-Britt Is Out Week 1. The Colts' Secondary Was Already Short.

This is the third time I've filed on this secondary in as many days, and the situation hasn't materially changed — which is itself the story. Cam Taylor-Britt will miss the season opener due to his one-game suspension for a personal-conduct policy violation. He's listed third on the depth chart at defensive back behind Cam Bynum and Sauce Gardner, who is currently questionable. That's a thin rotation to begin with. Losing Taylor-Britt for Week 1 makes it thinner.

The deeper issue predates the suspension. Last season, the Colts ran one of the most threadbare cornerback rotations in the league — Charvarius Ward appeared in only seven games, and the depth behind him barely registered. The organization moved to address that this offseason, working out cornerback candidates and adding Taylor-Britt, but the suspension removes one of those additions for the first game before he's played a snap in Indianapolis.

Sauce Gardner's questionable tag adds another layer of uncertainty. If he's limited or out for the opener, the Colts are looking at Mekhi Blackmon, Jai'Onte' McMillan, and Mekhi Rodgers as their cornerback options — a group with nothing in the stat sheet yet to evaluate. That's not necessarily a disaster, but it's not a comfortable place to be heading into Week 1 either.

The offense has its own concerns with Alec Pierce still sidelined, but the secondary situation is the one with the most moving parts right now and the least margin for error. Taylor-Britt comes back for Week 2. The question is what the opener costs them before he does.