{"id":297975,"date":"2023-11-02T20:25:35","date_gmt":"2023-11-02T20:25:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/?p=297975"},"modified":"2023-11-02T20:25:35","modified_gmt":"2023-11-02T20:25:35","slug":"colts-lb-shaq-leonard-frustrated-with-lesser-usage-they-say-i-dont-make-enough-splash-plays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/nfl\/colts-lb-shaq-leonard-frustrated-with-lesser-usage-they-say-i-dont-make-enough-splash-plays\/","title":{"rendered":"Colts LB Shaq Leonard frustrated with lesser usage: &#x27;They say I don&#x2019;t make enough splash plays&#x27;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Shaquille Leonard and the injury bug have unfortunately become intimately familiar in the last year or so.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>After missing all but three games in 2022 before returning to play in seven of Indianapolis&#8217; first eight games this season, Leonard&#8217;s frustration is starting to boil over. It&#8217;s not that he hasn&#8217;t been available to play, it&#8217;s that he feels he&#8217;s not getting enough playing time.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I just feel like each week I prove who I am. The way I play the game is getting better and better each week,&#8221; Leonard told reporters on Thursday, per CBS 4 Indy. &#8220;But they say I don&#8217;t make enough splash plays, so I guess I&#8217;ll still be watching for a bit.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Leonard&#8217;s reduced snaps are a product of yet another pair of ailments. He&#8217;s battled a groin injury for most of the last month, and was already working through persistent back irritation stemming from an injury that limited him to three games in 2022.<\/p>\n<p>Indianapolis approached the 2023 season with Leonard&#8217;s back issue in mind, reducing his snaps over a few weeks earlier in the campaign as part of a plan to ramp up Leonard toward full participation. After playing in 85.5 percent of defensive snaps in a Week 1 loss to Jacksonville, Leonard saw a season-low 36 snaps &#8212; 46.2 percent of Indianapolis&#8217; total defensive plays &#8212; in the Colts&#8217; overtime loss to the Rams in Week 4.<\/p>\n<h2>          <span>            Related Links          <\/span>        <\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>              NFL playoff predictions: Picking eight division winners, six wild-card teams for 2023 season            <\/li>\n<li>              Week 9 NFL picks: Can Titans upset Steelers on Thursday night? Dolphins or Chiefs in Germany?            <\/li>\n<li>              2023 NFL Offensive Player Rankings, Week 9: Agree or disagree with three QB decisions?            <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Leonard had circled the month of November as his target window for finally feeling normal, and he believes he&#8217;s still on track. He just doesn&#8217;t trust that Indianapolis&#8217; coaching staff thinks the same about him, judging by his reduced role.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;More me personally, I think so. For myself, I don&#8217;t think that they think that,&#8221; Leonard said on Thursday. \u2026 &#8220;(My snap counts will likely) be similar, maybe even worse. Just going to go out and play as many plays as I can play. Just go from there.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>It was easy to sense Leonard&#8217;s general frustration with his role when speaking with reporters on Thursday, almost as if the former All-Pro is at a loss for what he can do to receive more opportunities. As of now, he&#8217;s been forced to accept that he won&#8217;t be playing a primary role in Indianapolis&#8217; defense, instead sharing playing time with fellow linebacker E.J. Speed, who is having a good year.<\/p>\n<p>When asked if Shane Steichen&#8217;s staff has communicated clearly with Leonard, the linebacker admitted he has a good enough understanding of where his coaches currently see him fitting in, even if he doesn&#8217;t like the result.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I kind of know a little bit. They&#8217;ll tell me if I&#8217;m going to split reps with E.J. on first and second (down),&#8221; Leonard said. &#8220;I know I&#8217;m not in on third down. Kind of know exactly what it is. Like it or not, it is what it is.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s important to note that Leonard isn&#8217;t being iced out of the lineup in Indianapolis. He&#8217;s still played 72.3 percent of defensive snaps so far this season; the Colts are seemingly just being cautious with him, given his recent rash of injuries.<\/p>\n<p>Any competitor will be frustrated with limited opportunities, though, especially one attempting to prove the health concerns are behind him. While not ideal, Leonard&#8217;s current reality is simple: maximize the reps he receives with the hope it will earn the trust of his coaches, who he will hope will give him more snaps in the future.<\/p>\n<p>Until then, though, Leonard can only control so much. He&#8217;ll aim to use the reps he&#8217;s given to his advantage going forward.<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nfl.com\/news\/colts-lb-shaq-leonard-on-lesser-usage-they-say-i-don-t-make-enough-splash-plays\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Shaquille Leonard and the injury bug have unfortunately become intimately familiar in the last year or so.\u00a0 After missing all <span class=\"more-text\">&hellip;<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":297974,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Colts LB Shaq Leonard frustrated with lesser usage: &#x27;They say I don&#x2019;t make enough splash plays&#x27; - Sportstons<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/nfl\/colts-lb-shaq-leonard-frustrated-with-lesser-usage-they-say-i-dont-make-enough-splash-plays\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Colts LB Shaq Leonard frustrated with lesser usage: &#x27;They say I don&#x2019;t make enough splash plays&#x27; 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