UPDATE: T.Y. Hilton is expected to be active, per Adam Schefter.
The Indianapolis Colts have not yet made a decision on wide receiver T.Y. Hilton for Week 15 Monday Night Football, but NFL Network reporter Ian Rapoport is hearing the team “think[s] they have a good shot of having” Hilton available against the New Orleans Saints.
Rapoport said that in spite of limited work this week, Hilton “is at least trending in the right direction.” The Colts want to see how he looks in pre-game workouts before making the final call.
It’s easy to be skeptical about this report. Hilton practiced in limited fashion on Thursday and Friday, but then was a DNP on Saturday. It could have just been a rest day, but that does not suggest the right trend.
Head coach Frank Reich said Hilton would only play if he was 100 percent. That’s obviously not really likely at this point in the season for even a healthy player. The Colts do need a win tonight to stay alive in the playoff race, but given how Hilton looked in Week 12 when he tried going on the injured calf, I would think they’d want to be cautious with their star receiver.
Inactives will be released at 6:45 p.m. ET. We likely will not know Hilton’s status for sure until close to that time.