Eric Fisher has turned things around with the Indianapolis Colts

All Eric Fisher needed was just a little patience in 2021.

A single offseason removed from a torn Achilles tendon in the week before Super Bowl LV, Fisher was signed by the Indianapolis Colts to man the all-important left tackle role and serve as Carson Wentz’s blindside protector. They were the two most important imports this entire offseason by general manager Chris Ballard (formerly of the Kansas City Chiefs front office), and the criticism came early for both players in 2021.

When Fisher took the field for the Colts for the first time in Week 2, the initial impulse was to call it a very impressive comeback. After al, an Achilles injury is a very serious one and it came sometimes take a player well over a year to return. Sometimes a player is never quite the same on the other side, which means no one was quite sure what Fisher would be able to do as a 30-year-old veteran tackle, but here he was back in just under eight months. It was inspiring.

Unfortunately the early results were not inspired at all. Fisher struggled early in games against the Titans, Dolphins, and others, and Wentz was under constant pressure. Fisher was quickly labeled as a disappointment after a few weeks by Colts fans in the process, but it didn’t help that the Colts also lost right tackle Braden Smith and left guard Quenton Nelson during much of the same stretch

Eric Fisher needed only time to turn things around with the Colts.

These days, the Fisher signing is looking much, much better for the Colts. Fisher is finding his footing in Indy at this point, with his best stretch of performances coincidentally coming right as the Colts are finding their own footing as a team. Wentz is playing well. The Colts have found their mojo. They’ve returned their record to .500 and should have easily taken down the defending Super Bowl champs on Sunday in a shocking loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (in which the Colts turned the ball over five times).

Fisher will never receive the credit during this impressive turnaround given that there are many other factors involved, but his impressive performances should at least generate some headlines. Given his early return from injury, Fisher deserved the benefit of the doubt, and if he wasn’t quite 100 percent at the time, then that’s on the Colts’ coaches and trainers for putting a player out there who is not ready (and will, consequently, cost the team while forcing the fit).

All Fisher needed was a bit of patience on the part of those around him to grow into the sort of left tackle needed by the Colts. That wasn’t always a safe bet given the difficult offseason faced by Fisher. He was not only trying to rehabilitate his leg after such a horrific injury, but he was also released by the only team that had ever employed him—after eight years serving as the left tackle for the Chiefs. Despite being a two-time Pro Bowl performer, the Chiefs wiped the slate clean and made a major investment to bring in Orlando Brown Jr.

That’s not to say that everything has gone swimmingly after a few early weeks of concerns. Even this past Sunday, the batch of five turnovers can be partially attributed to Fisher’s own mistakes. It was an ugly week and fans were back at Fisher’s throat (as they should have been).

However, Fisher has been much improved as of late, and Pro Football Focus is projecting the going market for him this coming offseason at three-years and $48 million. (He signed a single-season deal with the Colts this spring.) For a guy who was once facing an uncertain future and dodging loads of criticism at the season’s beginning, Fisher has reminded us that injuries take time. From the vantage of Chiefs Kingdom, it’s good to see Fisher still being a productive player even if he’s not in K.C. anymore.