Texans at Colts, 1 p.m. Sunday, CBS

INDIANAPOLIS — For the first time in five years, the first time in his NFL career, Jack Doyle watched the Indianapolis Colts play from the couch on Sunday. “Hard,” he’d say days later. “There’s just no other way to describe it.”

Doyle made his name in this league on his blue-collar dependability – he was the Colts’ Iron Man. Coaches loved his accountability. Teammates loved his reliability.

Quarterbacks always knew where No. 84 would be on the field, because he was always where he was supposed to be.

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But here he was, stuck at home, helpless, watching the Colts take the defending Super Bowl champs down to the wire, pushing the ball into the Eagles’ red zone with 90 seconds left, their chance to steal the win staring them in the face. They took four shots at the end zone and never made it in.

“You feel extremely helpless,” Doyle said. “It’s just hard, man. You’re cheering them on, but it’s so hard.”

One can only wonder if No. 84 was out there – one of Andrew Luck’s favorite red zone targets – how things would’ve played out. But no matter. The Colts are 1-2, and Doyle’s Week 2 hip injury will sideline him for the longest stretch of his career.

In Washington, Doyle caught a shallow screen pass over the middle during the Colts’ 2-minute drill before halftime. He gained eight yards then was brought down by Redskins linebacker Mason Foster. Doyle lay on the turf for a moment, and Doyle never lays on the turf for a moment. He was helped up by a teammate, writhing in pain, and proceeded to play every offensive snap but two in the game.

“Hey, I can finish,” Doyle told his coaches during the game. So he did.

Ask him about this and his response is prototypical Jack Doyle. He shrugs his shoulders, and pauses, and then gives the most vanilla quote of all-time.

“I don’t know,” he says of playing two quarters of NFL football with his hip throbbing. “I just played. I could play, so I just played.”

Makes sense. Doyle won’t ever tell you he’s tough – he hates talking about himself almost as much as Andrew Luck does – but his coach will.

“Just a testament to his toughness,” Frank Reich said last week. “(The injury) happened in the second quarter, and he felt it ... the guy is just a football player – that’s what we are looking for. Amazing. Amazing that he could finish.”

So Doyle remains in the week-to-week category, spending more time in the rehab room than on the practice field. He sort of became a staple in the last few years; you never had to look for his No. 84 jersey at practice, because you knew he’d be out there. Until the hip injury, he’d missed just two games in his career. He was a healthy scratch back in 2013, his first-ever NFL game, and missed Week 5 last year due to a concussion.

Also, consider: The day after he and his wife welcomed their son in 2016, he was back at training camp the next day.

Otherwise, he was out there, day after day, season after season.

“I take a lot of pride in not missing practice, but this is where I’m at,” Doyle says.

The offense is, by no means, whole. The void at left tackle has been jarring – without Anthony Castonzo, the Colts’ vertical passing game isn’t what they want it to be. Reich can vow he’s happy with it, but the truth is, the Colts are playing with one hand tied behind their backs. No Castonzo means no time for Luck which means no deep balls for T.Y. Hilton, who thrives on the double-move, which usually takes three or four seconds, minimum, to develop.

Where Doyle comes into this: He is more than a reliable downfield target. He’s an underrated pass protector who can threaten a defense near the line of scrimmage and 10 yards downfield. Without him available Sunday in Philadelphia, the Colts leaned on Ryan Hewitt for his blocking (16 snaps). Eric Ebron had 11 targets in the passing game but just five catches; Erik Swoope just one. Point being: Doyle was missed, on the stat sheet and off it.

“He brings a dynamic – there are not a lot of guys like him in the NFL that can run block the way he run blocks and be a pass catcher the way he receives a ball,” said offensive coordinator Nick Sirianni. “He is truly a dynamic and one-of-a-kind guy in the NFL right now. ... Obviously, losing any good player, or any player we are depending on, will limit you and make you think about your next move. Any time you lose a player with the capabilities of Jack, it’s going to dictate some things.”

And it has. The simple solution is this: Get Doyle back on the field ASAP. He’ll miss Sunday’s game against Houston, and very likely next Thursday’s game against the Patriots. The longer he’s on the sideline – or the couch – the harder life will be for the Colts.

Anthony Castonzo returns to practice

A welcomed sight for this team arrived Thursday, when Castonzo, the Colts’ starting left tackle since he was drafted in 2011, returned to the team portion of practice. Castonzo has been stacking “positive days” on the side of late, strengthening the hamstring that has cost him the better part of the 2018 season to date.

But he’s done making predictions about his return date. He initially returned to action midweek before the Redskins’ game, vowing he’d be out there for the game, but had another setback that cost him the game and an additional week of practice.

“I’m gonna make sure I’m good to go, there’s no question,” he said. “I made the mistake twice of making statements, so I’m just gonna say we’re taking it day-by-day.”

It’s highly unlikely he returns for Sunday’s game against Houston, and even next week’s game in New England looks like a long shot, considering Castonzo’s rocky few months with the hamstring injury he can’t seem to shake.

He called the latest setback “a freak thing,” and it was clearly unexpected. Reich is on record saying before that practice that Castonzo was set to return that week.

“We’re just making sure my hamstring is real strong, so everything stays in line and my hamstring isn’t in a compromised position,” he said. “It’s been extremely frustrating. Right now I’m doing everything I can to come back as soon as possible, and make sure I stay back.”

Marlon Mack on track to play

Running back Marlon Mack practiced Thursday for the second consecutive day, as did defensive lineman Denico Autry. Both are in line to play Sunday.

Safeties Clayton Geathers and Malik Hooker, as well as tight end Eric Ebron, also returned to the practice field Thursday after missing Wednesday's workout.

Cornerback Quincy Wilson remains in the concussion protocol, and doesn't figure to play Sunday.