INDIANAPOLIS – The Indianapolis Colts are like most NFL teams — injuries have taken their toll.

But for the Colts, they’ve had their fair share of key players fall victim to serious injuries. Now, though, as the season progresses, reason for optimism is increasing.

The latest good news pertains to safety Clayton Geathers, who coach Chuck Pagano now says will be back on the practice field within “a week to maybe two weeks.” It’s the most specific news the Colts have offered about Geathers’ outlook since he sustained a neck injury last December, an injury that resulted in a reluctant decision to have surgery to repair his bulging disc during the offseason.

His return to practice won’t be the final step. Geathers will initially be relegated to non-contact drills, Pagano said, for at least two weeks. He will then progress to full-team drills and, finally, padded practices.

“He’s getting closer,” Pagano said.

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Geathers has been on the physically unable to perform list since the start of training camp in late July and will become eligible to practice after Monday’s game against the Tennessee Titans.

The Colts could use Geathers’ skill set given their troubles defending intermediate passes in the middle of the field. The team’s inside linebackers are struggling in coverage, and Geathers has the ability to play a pseudo-linebacker role in certain packages that would give the Colts better matchups.

The positive news on Geathers comes at a time when the Colts have many other reasons to be hopeful on the injury front.

Quarterback Andrew Luck is working his way back after shoulder surgery, expected to practice for a second consecutive week when the Colts return to the field Thursday. Luck won’t play Monday in Nashville and is, at best, a long shot to play the following week against the Jacksonville Jaguars. But his presence on the practice field has given the Colts a definite boost.

The Colts are also hopeful about the return of tight end Erik Swoope. He entered training camp as one of the players with the highest upside after averaging 19.8 yards per catch in 2016. He was expected to graduate to a starting role this season after the trade of Dwayne Allen to the New England Patriots, but preseason knee surgery proved a setback.

Swoope is on injured reserve, but the Colts intend to make him a designated return player once healed. Swoope has been on IR for five weeks, meaning he is one week shy of the six-week mark, at which he will be eligible to begin practicing. Swoope would be eligible to play after eight weeks. It's not clear what his current timeline is.

Receiver Chester Rogers, who at times was dominant during the offseason, has been dealing with a severe hamstring injury that has kept him out all season. But Rogers could return to action as early as this weekend. He practiced on a limited basis last week. This is the closest he’s come to getting back onto the playing field so far in 2017.

Expectations for players coming off injury should be measured, but the Colts certainly aren’t going to split hairs about getting some of their best players back from injury.

With a 2-3 record that has them one game back in the AFC South, the news comes not a minute too soon for the struggling Colts.

Follow Colts Insider Stephen Holder on Twitter: @HolderStephen.