Colts Star Jonathan Taylor Refutes Rumor After Trade Request

Things appear to be getting messy between Jonathan Taylor and the Colts.

We probably could have predicted this development Saturday when reports claimed the star running back requested a trade out of Indianapolis. Taylor, a 2020 second-round pick who’s entering the final year of his rookie deal, apparently isn’t satisfied with his contract situation, which is becoming the norm within the running back community.

Taylor has yet to join the Colts for training camp, but his absence isn’t totally related to a contract holdout. The 24-year-old reportedly failed a physical in wake of an ankle injury that required surgery in January, which recently forced Taylor onto Indy’s physically unable to perform list. However, that might not be the only ailment the Wisconsin product is dealing with.

“Colts running back Jonathan Taylor, who has requested a trade, reported back pain during his pre-training camp physical that was deemed to be from an injury that was not sustained while playing for Indianapolis, a league source told ESPN,” ESPN’s Stephen Holder wrote in a column published Sunday.

“The situation now has the team considering whether to place Taylor on the non-football injury list, which could result in Indianapolis withholding his salary, the source said.”

Not long after Holder broke the news, Taylor took to Twitter to share his side of the story.

“1.) Never had a back pain. 2.) Never reported back pain,” Taylor tweeted. “Not sure who ‘sources’ are, but find new ones.”

Colts owner Jim Irsay recently revealed the organization doesn’t plan to extend Taylor at this time, nor does it have any plans to trade the NFL’s 2021 rushing leader. As such, it doesn’t sound like this situation will be resolved any time soon.