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INDIANAPOLIS – Jonathan Taylor is showing signs of life while holding tight to strands of the back he used to be.

One year after he led the NFL in rushing yards, rushing touchdowns, rushing yards per carry, rushing yards after contact – every measure known to man to determine value at a bruising position -- he's fallen into some of the traps that consume them all.

He's been bottled up by an offensive line that has given up steady penetration while rolling out five different combinations, evaporating his feel. He's taking shots from defensive linemen and linebackers, without the force delivery he generates in the open field.

He's hobbling through ankle and toe injuries that require constant maintenance, including practice days off this Wednesday and Thursday.

And yet each of the past two games, he's shown bits of efficiency, flashes of speed and wiggle. Just enough to believe that the prolific version is within reach.

"There's definitely a lot of runs that you can see are just one block away from going to the house, maybe just one second of patience in letting the hole develop from going to the house," Taylor said. "We've been close all year."

This week is bringing back the memories of the version who used to dominate. Taylor and the Colts are playing the Patriots, coached by Bill Belichick, who almost always has a game plan to take away an offense's best player.

Almost always.

Just 11 games ago, the Colts hosted the Patriots on Sunday Night Football. Indianapolis led by a field goal with 2:11 remaining, facing a 2nd-and-8, as Belichick walked Pro Bowl linebacker Donta Hightower into the box on a run blitz and dared the Colts to do anything else. Frank Reich deeply considered a pass, but he knew what he had to send into that crowded box was everything but ordinary.

So Taylor took the handoff, planted a left foot in the ground to get Hightower flowing and hit an internal turbo boost to fly through a hole vacated by a surging offensive line. He angled to the right sideline and reached a top speed of 22.13 miles per hour, at that time the fastest mark in the NFL on the season.

He flipped his head and stared right into the soul of Patriots cornerback J.C. Jackson.

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"If you're ever running and you look back," Colts linebacker Shaquille Leonard said that night, "you know he's not catching him."

And nobody did. Taylor scored the game-winning touchdown from 67 yards out to reach 170 yards, his 10th 100-yard game of the season. He scored one of his 18 league-leading touchdowns and cemented the Colts' status as the most dominant and explosive rushing team in football.

That was 11 games ago.

A slipping environment

Now, it feels like 11 years.

Aside from a defense that can keep them in a low-scoring game, the Colts don't have the ingredients that set Taylor free for a moment like that run, and they don't quite have that guy either. Not after the toe and ankle injuries, the missed time and the lost momentum.

But they're looking. With a new young quarterback and a season slipping away at 3-4-1, they know their path to scoring and winning again lies on the shoulders of their ultra-talented back.

"What he has to do is pull through," running backs coach Scottie Montgomery said. "... I don’t think he has gotten to the level of frustration. Sometimes when you’re really young, the eagerness to get back will outweigh the frustration."

Year-over-year, Taylor has seen his yards per game drop by 27%, his yards per carry by 22%, and his touchdowns by 88%. He hasn't found the end zone since Week 1 against the Texans, which was his only 100-yard game of the year.

Much of the change is environmental. The offensive line has new two new starters who have not played like starters, plus three stalwarts who have not played like stalwarts. They rank 31st in Football Outsiders' adjusted line yards, which measure the movement a line clears in the run game. The Colts rank 20th in second-level runs and 26th in open-field success, areas where Taylor's vision, cuts and speed are supposed to shine.

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They're also reeling from the retirement of tight end Jack Doyle. The two-time Pro Bowler would stone blitzing linebackers and scoop out edge setters, ad-libbing for whatever a mind like Belichick would throw at the Colts. Taylor grew to trust him, and they'd set up the runs to break the game open.

Indianapolis has had to rework the blocking scheme since Doyle left, and that process has expanded into this season, when coaches realized they were asking a second-year Kylen Granson to perform tasks he wasn't built for at 242 pounds.

"It's not about JT," running back Nyheim Hines, who was traded to the Bills this week, said earlier this season. "JT has done well. JT has been grinding. The supporting cast around him has to be better -- myself, receivers, anyone in this offense not named JT."

Finding solutions

For the past 2⅟₂ games, they've stuck with the same offensive line combination while standing by coach Chris Strausser and assistant Kevin Mawae, even though they fired offensive coordinator Marcus Brady. From left to right, the line features Dennis Kelly, Quenton Nelson, Ryan Kelly, Matt Pryor and Braden Smith. Pryor's move back to his more natural position has allowed some combination blocks to form, though short-yardage continues to cripple this team.

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They've turned Mo Alie-Cox into almost a full-time blocker, dropping his targets to just one over the past month.

And starting last week, they diversified their rushing approach with Sam Ehlinger at quarterback. His mobility allows them to run shotgun zone-read plays, where Ehlinger's threat to keep the ball can freeze the defensive end to create the effect of an extra block. They also ran Ehlinger on a pair of sweep plays, giving the defense another ball-carrier to keep eyes on while Taylor is on the field.

It's been in an effort to unleash Taylor and to keep him from taking the shots and twists of the ankle that zap his power. He missed the Broncos and Jaguars games, and since he's come back, he's shown flashes of the efficient 2021 version. He's averaged 5.2 yards on 26 carries the past two weeks.

But the offense has to stay on the field more for Taylor's volume to get anywhere near the 20 carries a game he averaged last season, when he set up those explosive runs. He also has to get healthier. That's the challenge that's eating at the Colts, given that they don't have their bye week until December.

With Ehlinger making his second career start on the road in a hostile stadium against Belichick, the Colts would like to ride Taylor like last season, when he had 29 carries in this matchup. But his availability is in question, leading to a trade for Zack Moss in exchange for Hines and the addition of Jordan Wilkins to the practice squad.

If Taylor does play, his ankle won't be 100%, stressing the parts around him to block even better to open up those creases.

"He's a different cat," Moss said.

Moss arrived this week from Buffalo. He last saw Taylor live against the Bills last season, when he became the first NFL player to rush for 185 yards and four touchdowns with a receiving score.

Three weeks later, Taylor ran over the Patriots with such ease that he stared down a defender on his way to the end zone. It was a death glare to a team and a coach that usually deliver those blows.

The Colts want to see that look in his eyes again.

Contact Colts insider Nate Atkins at natkins@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter @NateAtkins_.