The Indianapolis Colts have their eyes on a former first-round pick and veteran free-agent pass rusher amid a slew of injuries in their defensive trenches.
According to the NFL’s official transaction wire, the Colts brought in former Buffalo Bills first-round pick Shaq Lawson on Tuesday for a roster workout alongside five other free-agent defensive linemen who could potentially help them bolster their ranks.
Lawson — the No. 19 overall pick in 2016 — never lived up to his first-round potential, but he would add quality experience to the Colts’ defensive end position, having played in 110 career games (with 38 starts) and tallied 27 sacks, 42 TFLs and 207 total tackles. He has not appeared in a regular-season game since Week 7 last year with Carolina.
The Colts also worked out defensive ends Myles Cole and Viliami Fehoko and defensive tackles Maurice Hurst, Chris Wormley and Christopher Hinton on Tuesday.
The Colts are currently hurting for depth along their defensive line. They had to place star veteran defensive tackle DeForest Buckner on injured reserve last week, sidelining him until at least Week 14. They have also not had either Samson Ebukam or Tyquan Lewis available off the edge since October 19’s win over the Los Angeles Chargers.
The Colts (8-2) are on their bye week and will not play again until they face the Kansas City Chiefs (5-4) at 1 p.m. ET on November 23 for their Week 12 road matchup.
The Colts are more likely than not only looking at Lawson and Tuesday’s other workout players as potential stop-gap depth pieces who can help them wait out key injuries, but make no mistake about it: they need more consistency from their pass-rushing unit.
While the Colts are in a three-way tie for the fifth-most sacks (29) in the league through the first 10 weeks, they have struggled to consistently keep the pressure on opposing quarterbacks throughout their hot 8-2 start. According to ESPN Analytics, they own a 31% pass-rush win rate after 10 games, tying Chicago and Cincinnati for second-worst.
Unfortunately for the Colts, the answers will largely need to come from within now that the NFL trade deadline has passed. Laiatu Latu has done an excellent job holding down one side of the line, generating 38 pressures and earning the sixth-best overall grade (89.5) from Pro Football Focus among edge rushers, but Kwity Paye and rookie JT Tuimoloau have been hit or miss through the first 10 games in terms of pass rushing.
Perhaps one of their workout players can add something to the equation, even if it is only a fresh body to jump in for a few reps while their mainstay rushers get a breath.
For longtime Colts fans, one of the names on their workout list — Christopher Hinton — likely stands out a little more than the rest, due to that name’s legacy with the team.
Hinton, a 2022 undrafted talent, is the son of former Pro Bowl offensive lineman Chris Hinton, who played seven seasons for the Colts from 1983 to 1989. The elder Hinton earned six Pro Bowl selections and two second-team All-Pro nods during his time with the Colts, becoming the first offensive tackle to appear in the Pro Bowl as a rookie.
While the Colts traded him to the Atlanta Falcons in the 1990 offseason in exchange for that year’s No. 1 overall draft pick, he was later inducted into the Colts Ring of Honor.
The younger Hinton has not made nearly the same impression in his first few years in the league. He has appeared in seven career games — all for the Chargers — and tallied just 13 total tackles and one quarterback hit across 147 career defensive snaps.
Even still, the legacy is intriguing, even if the Colts decide not to sign him.
The Detroit Lions showed their stuff with a lopsided 44-22 win over the Washington Commanders on Sunday, November 9, on the road, and that took away a bit of the sting of losing to NFC North rivals the Minnesota Vikings the week prior. While it was a great to get a win against Washington, now, the Lions are looking ahead to a contest against the reigning NFL champions: the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Lions and Eagles go up against each other on Sunday, November 16, at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. The Eagles have a 7-2 record going into the game, while the Lions are 6-3, and both teams are being called among the best in the NFL for the 2025-26 season.
“It’s a great place to play,” Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell told 97.1 The Ticket in Detroit about playing in Philadelphia under the bright lights. He almost channeled his inner Metallica, noting, “I mean, it’s electric. Had batteries thrown at us, spit on. It’s just the classic stuff. It’s probably the most hostile place to play.”
So, Campbell is ready to take on the Eagles on the road, and so is quarterback Jared Goff. While Goff isn’t a flashy name like Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen, he’s quietly been winning this season when it comes to his statistics.
On Wednesday, November 12, the team took to social media to announce Goff’s numbers from this season. According to NFL research, Goff is first in the entire league in completion at 74%. He’s also second in passing touchdowns at 20, passer rating at 117.7 and passing first down at 41.4%, plus fourth in passing touchdowns at 7.3% and fifth in yards per attempt at 8.19.
Goff will take those numbers into the Eagles contest. Sunday’s game will mark the first time these teams have played since the 2022-23 season. The Lions and Eagles almost went up against each other in last season’s NFC championship game, but the Lions were upset by the Washington Commanders in the divisional round of the playoffs.
The Lions are slight underdogs in Sunday’s game, and Pete Prisco from CBS Sports predicts an Eagles 31, Lions 27 final score.
“The Lions are playing consecutive road games, while the Eagles are playing on a short week,” he notes in the feature, out on Wednesday, November 12. “That kind of cancels them out. The Eagles have had trouble scoring, while the Lions rolled up big numbers last week. But at home, look for the Eagles defense to slow down the Lions, while the Eagles get their offense going for the win.”
In the NFL’s official Week 11 power rankings, out on Tuesday, November 11, the Eagles are No. 4 on the tally, and the Lions are No. 5. So, yes, this game is going to be tight.
“Dan Campbell took over offensive play-calling, and the Lions had arguably their most productive showing of the season on that side of the ball,” Eric Edholm says of the Lions’ win over the Commanders last Sunday. But, he adds, “Tougher challenges await, but the Lions gave a reminder that they can still go nuclear when they’re on.”