INDIANAPOLIS — Spencer Shrader put the final flourish on a remarkable comeback Saturday.
A reversal of fortune that was almost impossible to see coming before the start of the preseason.
But Shrader has looked a lot more like himself for three weeks now, and when the Colts’ third-string offense faltered at midfield in the second half of Saturday’s 25-16 preseason loss to the Lions, it almost felt inevitable when Shrader lined up for a 60-yard field goal in the third quarter.
He looked like he knew exactly what he needed to get ready. When an injury forced the on-field action to pause, Shrader trotted back over to the team’s kicking net on the sideline and took one more practice swing with his right leg.
“I kind of read the situation, felt like I had enough time to go over and get a practice kick in, kind of reset mentally and then go out there and do my routine,” Shrader said.
Shrader’s right leg carries enormous power potential, enough that the kick he launched from midfield looked almost routine for him, blowing through the middle of the uprights like a surfer riding a high wave all the way back onto the beach.
His second 60-yard kick of the preseason. A perfect five for five on field goals, none of those kicks shorter than 46 yards.
“I think there’s a lot of appreciation, coming off an ACL, to be where he’s at,” Indianapolis head coach Shane Steichen said. “To kick the 60-yarder today was huge.”
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Shrader entered this offseason’s battle with Blake Grupe for the Colts’ kicking job at a disadvantage.
Grupe, who kicked in New Orleans for three years before stabilizing the Indianapolis kicking situation in relief of an injured Shrader a year ago, has more experience. He also had more time to prepare. Shrader’s first season as the full-time starter in Indianapolis was abruptly cut short when Raiders safety Tristin McCollum dove into his kicking leg after a field goal last October, tearing Shrader’s ACL and MCL in his kicking knee and forcing the young kicker to spend eight months without sending anything at the uprights.
Indianapolis gave Shrader a chance to earn his job back.
But he was coming from behind.
“The hardest part has been battling back from it,” Shrader said.
The early days of rehabilitation were easy, at least to Shrader’s mind. The goals were simple: walk, then run, then cut, then kick. He only had to focus on one thing per day.
When training camp opened, the task for the day wasn’t quite so simple. Shrader has great respect for Grupe, a veteran who now holds the franchise record for longest field goal after blasting a 60-yard kick through the Seattle uprights in crunch time last December.
Shrader also knows what he’s capable of doing.
When he spent the first two weeks of training camp struggling, pulling field goals wide left as Grupe knocked kick after kick through the uprights, it was admittedly hard to keep his mindset in check. The training camp is immersive and intense, leaving players to compete for career-altering stakes with little room for an outlet, save for an off day here or there.
“You have really high expectations for yourself, and I knew what I was capable of,” Shrader said. “Not performing that way consistently, day after day during camp, just grinds you. … Training camp is always about the battle of the mind.”
The Colts have said all along that they believe the kicker who loses the position battle will end up as a starter somewhere else in the NFL this season, and a quick glance around the league backs up that belief.
None of that optimism helps in the moment.
Both men want to kick here, where they’re comfortable, where they have a familiar face in special teams coordinator Brian Mason, where long snapper Luke Rhodes and holder Rigoberto Sanchez provide one of the NFL’s cleanest operations. Grupe knows exactly how important that can be after operational issues ruined his time in New Orleans; Shrader spent his rookie season in 2024 bouncing around the NFL, learning new teammates on the fly as a fill-in for three separate teams.
Shrader won the job outright last fall. He wants to be here for as long as possible.
When he opened training camp by pulling kicks to the left, it wasn’t easy for the always-positive Shrader to keep his head where it needed to be.
Then he blasted a field goal on the practice fields in New England that tailed left of the goal posts at the last second.
Another miss, another kick wide to the left.
At least to the untrained eye. For Shrader, that kick was a sign that he was finally turning the corner. A fierce crosswind pushed his field goal wide left, but the way he hit the ball, high and arcing like a ball shot out of a cannon, was the way Shrader is used to kicking.
“That was a turning point for me, for sure,” Shrader said. “I had really been struggling up to that point.”
Shrader hit the 61-yarder in the team’s preseason opener a few days later.
From that point on, this has been a true competition. Grupe has kicked well in practice, but he missed a 60-yarder in New England, pushed a 36-yard kick wide right against Atlanta and banked a 46-yarder off the right upright on Saturday against the Lions. Grupe made his second kick of the day, a 36-yard attempt, but Shrader’s otherworldly performance from distance has made the Colts’ kicking decision even harder than the Indianapolis decision-makers imagined it might be.
“I know I can’t control what opportunities come during the preseason, game-wise, but I can control myself, and I can control the way I prepare,” Grupe said. “I really feel like what I’ve done through preseason and practice, being consistent and being there every day, doing what I’m asked to do. That’s the craziness of our position, that’s the craziness of our league. I definitely feel confident that I’ve put my best foot forward.”
The Colts have to make their decision now.
Indianapolis has to cut its roster from 90 players down to 53 by 6 p.m. on Sunday, and the Colts will carry only one kicker. Both Shrader and Grupe have been through this before.
That doesn’t make it any easier.
“You truly never know,” Grupe said.
What Shrader knows now is that he put his best foot forward, that he’s put the worst of his injury in the rearview mirror and started kicking like himself again.
The results have been incredible.
Joel A. Erickson and Nathan Brown cover the Colts all season. Get more coverage on IndyStarTV and with the Colts Insider newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: From ACL tear to 60-yard bombs; Spencer Shrader makes his case for Colts job
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