Colts center Ryan Kelly has played with offensive tackle Braden Smith since the latter was selected in the second round of the 2018 draft.
Smith was placed on the non-football illness list last week due to a personal matter, which ended Smith’s season. The team has not disclosed the nature of Smith’s personal matter, but Kelly commented on his teammate this week, noting how the organization and his teammates have Smith’s back.
“He’s doing what he has to do right now, taking care of what he has to take care of,” Colts Kelly said, via Joel A. Erickson of the Indianapolis Star. “The Irsays have supported him, the organization has supported him, we’ve supported him. It takes a lot of guts to do that.
“He’s a brother of mine,” Kelly added. “He’s doing what he has to do to get right.”
Kelly also called Smith one of the toughest players on the team.
“Some of those things, I feel like, having gone through personal stuff myself, you want to hear from people, but I feel like sometimes, as a person on the other side, you don’t want to be overbearing, so you kind of give them their space to do what they have to do, heal what they have to heal,” Kelly said. “We’ve mentioned multiple times that we’re here for him, praying for him, whatever he needs in his journey, his family’s journey.”
