INDIANAPOLIS COLTS (8-9)
How long has it been since the Colts made the playoffs? The quarterback who last took them to the postseason in 2020, Philip Rivers, stayed out of football long enough to become Hall of Fame eligible and then came out of retirement late last season to see if he could make it back. While that gamble didn't work out, general manager Chris Ballard and coach Shane Steichen are back for one more shot. They believe quarterback Daniel Jones can replicate his strong start from 2025 and hope he stays healthy enough to finish this season. Through the first nine games last year, Jones and running back Jonathan Taylor were the cornerstones in one of the league's most dynamic offenses, and most of the pieces are in place to run it back. Defensively, the question is whether Indy can improve enough to emerge as a contender. Injuries prevented the Colts from seeing the full impact of assembling All-Pro cornerback Sauce Gardner, Pro Bowl cornerback Charvarius Ward and veteran safety Cam Bynum in the secondary. Pro Bowl defensive tackle DeForest Buckner (neck) finished the season on injured reserve. If the defense clicks, the Colts might not just be playoff-bound. They could win their first AFC South crown since 2014.
LB CJ Allen, WR Keenan Allen, LB Bryce Boettcher, S Cam Taylor-Britt, DT Micheal Clemons, DE Caden Curry, S A.J. Haulcy, WR Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, DE Arden Key, S Jonathan Owens, DT Colby Wooden.
WR Michael Pittman Jr., RT Braden Smith, DE Kwity Paye, CB Kenny Moore II, S Nick Cross, LB Zaire Franklin, OL Danny Pinter, DL Tyquan Lewis.
Indianapolis returns nine of 11 starters from an offense that was on a historically productive pace until Jones' season was cut short by injuries. The Colts believe Jalen Travis is ready to replace departed RT Braden Smith, and that Alec Pierce will be more than capable of replacing Pittman as the No. 1 receiver. The addition of Allen gives Jones three proven wideouts, and TE Tyler Warren is likely to play an expanded role in his second season. If Gardner and Ward are healthy, the secondary could be far better — especially with CB Justin Walley and S Hunter Wohler back after they suffered season-ending injuries in 2025 preseason games.
The top concern is generating a consistent pass rush. Laiatu Latu saw his sacks total increase from four in 2024 to 8 1/2 last year, but with Paye's departure in free agency, there's no clear successor on the opposite side. Indy expects Key and second-year DE Jaylahn Tuimoloau to help free up Latu. The Colts added depth with Clemons and two draft picks, Curry and George Gumbs Jr. Indy also is young at linebacker with two rookies — CJ Allen and Boettcher — projected as starters. Boettcher has been impressive, but Allen was limited by hamstring and calf injuries at camp. The Colts have started multiple rookie linebackers before, but Allen's missed time could prove costly.
Anthony Richardson, the No. 4 overall draft pick in 2023, and second-year QB Riley Leonard have been battling to become Jones' backup. The injury-prone Richardson, who has a standing trade request, lost a fumble and threw an interception in Indy's preseason opener. He then went 3 of 9 for 24 yards and was sacked twice in Indy's second preseason game. Leonard hasn't been much better. He was under heavy pressure in Week 1 and struggled to sustain drives in Week 2. Neither Spencer Shrader nor Blake Grupe has separated himself in the kicking competition, either.
Taylor and Warren. Taylor remains a big-play threat every time he touches the ball and finished last season with a league-best 18 TD runs. Indy tried to exploit some of Warren's versatility early in his rookie season, asking him to run and throw the ball in addition to his other duties. He could be asked to do more of that this year, meaning he could score in ways other tight ends cannot.
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Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Drake London (5) makes a catch in front of Indianapolis Colts cornerback Sauce Gardner (1) during a joint practice at the team's NFL football training camp in Westfield, Ind., Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Indianapolis Colts quarterback Daniel Jones (17) throws during a joint practice with the Atlanta Falcons at the team's NFL football training camp in Westfield, Ind., Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
PLYMOUTH, Mass. (AP) — Jury deliberations resumed for a fifth day Wednesday in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial, after the judge questioned jurors one by one about a woman who was arrested and charged with filming them as they left the courthouse the previous day, Clancy's lawyer said.
A former labor and delivery nurse, Clancy doesn’t deny strangling her three young children at the family's Massachusetts home in 2023, but she says postpartum psychosis led to her actions. Prosecutors argue that she knew what she was doing. Clancy, 36, has pleaded not guilty by reason of lack of criminal responsibility.
Clancy’s livestreamed trial has generated intense interest, with reporters and spectators packing the courtroom. The case has also sparked deep public divisions over her culpability and the issues around maternal mental health after childbirth.
The jurors told Judge William Sullivan on Tuesday morning that they were unable to reach a unanimous decision, but he instructed them to keep trying — a common instruction in criminal trials when juries say they're having trouble reaching a verdict.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988.
Dawn Light, 56, of Sutton, Massachusetts, was arraigned Wednesday at the same courthouse in Plymouth, south of Boston.
Surrounded by reporters while going to her car, Light was asked why she filmed outside the courthouse Tuesday.
“To see Lindsay. And I did see her. She was getting picked up by the van,” Light said.
Light’s attorney, Jennifer White, called it a “misunderstanding” and said Light, a retired nurse, was only trying to take a photo of Clancy and “not interact with the jurors.”
She was charged with intimidation of a witness, jurors or person furnishing information in connection with criminal proceedings. A not-guilty plea was entered on her behalf and she was released without having to post bail, but was ordered to stay away from the court, the jurors and any witnesses.
Assistant District Attorney Nicole Piacentini said Light was parked in a restricted area behind the courthouse and is accused of filming the jurors as they left court. Light told state police that she was waiting to film Clancy and denied recording jurors, however, troopers found video of jurors in her phone's deleted-files folder, Piacentini said.
“The sanctity of the judicial system is at risk because of her actions,” Piacentini told a judge during the arraignment.
Sullivan opened Wednesday’s proceedings with a warning to the courtroom about following his orders.
“Everybody should be well aware that the order and that statute is being enforced,” he said.
The order bars people from photographing or filming a jury until the case ends, and prohibits anyone from following, contacting, harassing or tampering with a jury.
Before deliberations resumed, Clancy’s lawyer, Kevin Reddington, said that Sullivan had asked jurors about the woman’s arrest. The judge’s questions could not be heard from the gallery and he didn't disclose what he asked.
Jurors have heard testimony from relatives and doctors about how Clancy's mental health declined in the months before the killings and how her treatment included several medications and a short stay in a psychiatric hospital. Medical experts hired by the prosecution and the defense reached sharply different conclusions about her psychiatric state when she killed the children.
If jurors ultimately can’t agree on a verdict, the judge could declare a mistrial. Prosecutors would then have to decide whether to put Clancy on trial again, drop the charges or try to negotiate a plea deal with her lawyer.
After court ended Tuesday, Clancy’s attorney said it was a good sign that the jury kept working.
“The fact that they have not said that they’re done is very, very heartening,” Reddington said. “Obviously, they’re working very hard.”
If the jury decides Clancy was criminally responsible for her actions, it could convict her of either murder or manslaughter. If she is acquitted, a judge could still order her confined to a mental health facility if an evaluation determines that she poses a danger to the public.
Clancy killed the children with exercise bands in their home's basement, then jumped from a second-floor window. She remains paralyzed from the waist down. Her lawyers say she heard a voice telling her to kill the children so she could end her own life.
Associated Press writer Dave Collins in Hartford, Connecticut, contributed.
In this photo taken with a smartphone Dawn Light is questioned by reporters as she leaves her arraignment where she was charged with intimidation in connection with the Lindsay Clancy's murder trial in Plymouth, Mass., Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Leah Willingham)
Dawn Light attends her arraignment on a charge of intimidation in connection with the Lindsay Clancy's murder trial at Plymouth District Court in Plymouth, Mass., Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP, Pool)
Judge William Sullivan speaks to the press and spectators in the courtroom during Lindsay Clancy's murder trial at Plymouth Superior Court in Plymouth, Mass., Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP, Pool)
A diet soda sits in Lindsay Clancy's wheelchair as the jury resumes deliberations during her murder trial at Plymouth Superior Court in Plymouth, Mass., Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP, Pool)
Lindsay Clancy reacts to news that a woman was arrested for recording images of the jury at Plymouth Superior Court in Plymouth, Mass., Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP, Pool)
Lindsay Clancy looks to her lawyer Kevin Reddington as the jury keeps deliberating at her murder trial at Plymouth Superior Court in Plymouth, Mass., Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP, Pool)
