The Indianapolis Colts have their eyes set on the postseason, but a struggling run game could be the one thing that prevents them from having a long playoff run. The Colts are benefitting from the excellent play of quarterback Andrew Luck, but Trent Richardson is simply not helping keep the offense balanced enough which could hurt down the road. As he and Dan Herron continue to try and carry the workload for Indianapolis, is Ray Rice the answer as the final piece to offense?
According to head coach Chuck Pagano, the Colts run game is not an issue. Richardson is the starting back, but only averaging 3.1 yards per carry. In Week 13, he had just 12 yards to his name. Meanwhile Herron was a breakout star with 11.0 yards per carry while ripping off 88 yards on Sunday, out rushing the former first-round draft pick. This has caused plenty of speculation regarding the players on the roster for the Colts, but Pagano stresses he has nothing but confidence in Richardson going forward.
"He's a professional, he understands," Pagano, via ESPN.com. "None of us can ever get away from working at our craft regardless of the circumstance, regardless of adversity, just keep grinding, just keep working, just keep swinging the ax. If he keeps swinging the ax, the tree will fall. If you put the ax down, the tree is never coming down. Just keep chopping wood, and good things will happen."
According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, the Colts are one of the four teams interested in signing Rice off the free agent market. The running back is working on his NFL comeback and achieved the first step by winning his appeal and getting reinstated back into the league. However, now he has to hope a team is willing to take a chance signing him. The only team that will look to bring Rice on is a contending team, but according to Pagano the Colts are not ready to make any kind of switch to their roster right now.
"We're not there. You guys might be, but I'm not," Pagano said.
So the list of teams not interested in Rice is getting longer than the list of teams interested. The Detroit Lions have declined interest. The New Orleans Saints have said he is not an option. At this point, Rice will likely have to wait for the offseason and hope someone picks him up then.