The Indianapolis Colts finished their first preseason game of 2026 in the ugliest way possible: with a tie. In reality, the Colts should have beaten the New England Patriots, as running back Seth McGowan egregiously had a touchdown stolen away from him, but the game will officially go in the books as a tie. 

While the result of the game hardly matters this time of year, special teams production certainly does mean a lot. The Colts, like many teams, already know most of the players who will be on their opening day roster. The preseason is vital for finding out which players can break their way in and be core-four special teamers in those final 5-7 spots. 

This offseason, ColtsRoundtable will track the Colts’ special teams production in the preseason and do a stock watch after each game. Let’s jump into the numbers from the Colts’ “tie” with the Patriots.

THE KICKER BATTLE

The highly anticipated kicker battle this offseason appeared to be wrapped up heading into this game. Blake Grupe has been red hot in training camp, while Spencer Shrader has had an issue with pulling his kicks to the left since day one. Surprisingly, Shrader may have closed some ground against the Patriots. 

Both kickers had attempts in this game, with Shrader gaining the edge in terms of makes. Grupe finished the game 0-of-1 on field goals, with a miss on a 61-yard attempt, while Shrader banged home an early kick from 46 yards and closed the game out with a 61-yard made kick, with plenty of room to spare. 

Grupe’s miss hardly kills his chances, as he’s shown the ability to hit kicks from that distance in the past. The more notable aspect is Shrader knocking home his long kick. He has noticeably struggled on longer kicks in the past, especially in training camp. This could be the morale booster needed to get the young kicker back on track. 

Grupe likely remains in the lead for the kicker job, but Shrader certainly helped himself on Thursday night. 

STOCK UP

Coleman Owen

Owen handled the bulk of the returner duties in this game, fielding every one of the Patriots' punts and returning two of the four kickoffs in the game. He performed well in his opportunities, averaging 12.8 yards per return in the punt game and 27 yards per kick return. 

It remains to be seen if Anthony Gould’s absence from the game was injury-related or if he was held out due to roster security, but Owen certainly helped himself in Gould’s absence. 

Cam Taylor-Britt, Johnathan Edwards, Jonathan Owens

Thursday was a good night for the Colts’ expected trio of special teams aces in 2026. Owens got the party started early with an excellent stop as the personal protector on a booming 57-yard punt. Taylor-Britt and Edwards joined the party later on with two stops of their own as gunners on their respective units. 

These three players should be core punt coverage pieces in 2026, and Thursday was an excellent showing for each of them in that regard. The Colts averaged over 50 yards net in punting against the Patriots, potentially putting to rest some of the concerns with taking Ashton Dulin out of the gunner role. 

Tahj Chambers

It won’t show up in the stat sheet, but Chambers had a really solid showing on special teams as well. He had several impressive blocks on the kick return team, including one that sprang McGowan loose on his 39-yard return in the second quarter (that was ultimately called back for an unrelated holding call). 

Chambers also had a solid night on defense, so the undrafted rookie linebacker really helped himself in a big way against the Patriots.

STOCK DOWN

West Weeks

Weeks was billed as a potential core-four special teamer by the Colts when the team signed him to a lofty UDFA contract this offseason, but the rookie struggled to impress in this game. He had a really bad holding penalty on McGowan’s long return, wiping out a big play from that unit. He also struggled to stand out alongside other rookies in his chances on all four units. 

Weeks still has plenty of time to show what he’s got, but that penalty will loom large over the next couple of weeks for him. 

Deion Burks

Burks was another rookie who didn’t help himself a ton on Thursday. He failed to break into the punt returner rotation, and his lone kick return was the shortest of the night for the team. His one gunner rep also wasn’t the best, as he was washed out of the play in the middle of the field as Edwards made a big stop. 

Burks needs to showcase more on special teams this offseason if he wants to crack the opening day roster, and we just haven’t seen him step up to the plate as of right now.