INDIANAPOLIS — The next necessary steps have been taken, but it’s unclear if that will lead to two of the Indianapolis Colts’ game-changing players returning in time for Sunday’s pivotal AFC South showdown with the Texans in Houston. Running back Jonathan Taylor and defensive tackle DeForest Buckner have returned to practice this week after extended absences due to high sprains to each’s right ankle. Gus Bradley on Colts’ defense: ‘We’re showing signs’ And that’s the rub. Taylor has missed three games. He’s the unquestioned catalyst for the offense. Buckner has missed the last five. He’s one of the defensive pillars. Buckner remains on the injured reserve list, but the Colts’ opened the 21-day window for him to practice and, at some point, be added to the active roster. Both players were limited on Wednesday but full-go on Thursday. Good luck reading anything substantive from their Thursday meeting with the media. “It felt really good to be out there,’’ Taylor said. “The fact that I’m on the field now, it’s way better. Even though it was limited work – some individual stuff (Wednesday) – I just can’t wait to go out there again today with a bit more work and see how it feels. I never want to put negativity in the air, so I’m always going to say I think I’m going to play. You never want to put negativity in the air. I’m all about manifestation.’’ Often, the question isn’t how a player feels after returning to practice following an injury. It’s how he feels the next day. So? “I mean, of course, there’s going to be some soreness for sure,’’ Taylor said. “There’s going to be some soreness. You’ve got to work through some of those things. But overall, nothing major though. Nothing that was like, ‘Hey, this is like . . . that’s a bad deal.'’’ Similarly, Buckner offered little insight into whether he’ll be able to play against the Texans. Remember, Wednesday was his first time on the practice field since suffering the injury in the third quarter of the week 2 loss at Green Bay. “Just taking it one day at a time,’’ Buckner said. “Hoping for progress each and every day, but I’ll be hopeful.’’ Even though he’s been working with the rehab staff, Buckner still must regain his confidence in doing everything at full speed in a game setting. “Yeah, honestly just all the different movements,’’ he said. “I mean, it’s a big pass-rush day today. I do a lot of cutting and wiggling and stuff like that, so we’re going to see how it feels today.’’ Taylor has dealt with a variety of ailments since starting all 17 games in 2021 and leading the NFL with a franchise-record 1,811 yards and 18 rushing touchdowns. He’s missed 16 games over the past two-plus seasons with right ankle injuries and thumb surgery. Not surprisingly, the run game hasn’t been the same without Taylor. In his 56 regular-season games – we’ve excluded the week 15 loss at Minnesota in 2022 when he played only two snaps because of the ankle – the Colts have averaged 133.4 yards per game and 4.7 per attempt. They’re 14-3-1 when Taylor rushes for at least 100 yards. In the 18 games without him, the averages plummet to 102.8 and 3.99, respectively. The Colts are 8-10 when they’ve been without their $42 million back. “We’re hopeful. We’re optimistic,’’ offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter said. “We’ll see how the week goes with JT. He’s been such a good player around here for so long. We all know that. We know how valuable he is when he’s up and rolling and healthy and feeling good. He’s a really, really top-level player in this league. Whenever that time comes when he’s feeling right, shoot, we’ll be excited to get him back.’’ In four games, Taylor is averaging 87.3 yards per game and 4.8 per attempt with four rushing TDs. The Colts have gotten serviceable fill-in work from Tyler Goodson (128 yards, 4.7 per attempt) and Trey Sermon (127 yards, 2.8 per attempt), but Taylor lifts the run game to a much higher level. He’s also posted four of his top nine games against the Texans: 188, 161, 145 and 143 yards. In the week 1 loss to Houston at Lucas Oil Stadium, Taylor was limited to 48 yards and one TD on 18 carries. Buckner could have the same impact with the defense. He’s one of the league’s top 3-technique tackles. Since 2016, he has collected the most tackles (550) and solos (336) and ranks 3rd with 62.5 sacks and 4th with 81 tackles for loss among tackles. Before sustaining the ankle injury at Green Bay, Buckner had missed only two games during his nine-year career. One in 2020 was due to COVID-19. His Ironman reputation has been earned by playing despite a torn ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in his left elbow and injuries to his hand, back, ankle and knee. “Obviously, the longest time I’ve ever been away from the game throughout the season,’’ he said. “So, started going a little stir crazy towards the end of my little stay. “I’ve definitely had a lot of injuries throughout my career and that was just one of them where I mean, I knew I couldn’t go anymore. I knew it was a little bit more serious.’’ Colts well-represented as Hall of Fame cuts modern-era list to 50 The seriousness was evident at the time. Bucker was taken off the field and into the locker room on a cart. He expected it to be worse than it turned out to be. “Yeah, to be honest, because I couldn’t really put any pressure on my foot,’’ he said. Initial X-rays were negative, but an MRI revealed a high sprain to the ankle. “But I was lucky I didn’t need surgery,’’ Buckner said. He complemented his work with the Colts’ staff by bringing in his personal trainer, Mark Hall, to Indy to help with his upper-body conditioning. When Buckner wasn’t at the Indiana Farm Bureau Football Center, he was getting in work at Grand Park or Ozwell Fitness, his wife’s gym in Carmel. You can follow Mike Chappell on Twitter at @mchappell51.