The Indianapolis Colts restored Ryan Kelly to their active roster on Saturday after the former Alabama All-American center had spent the past five games on injured reserve.

Kelly made it back from a knee injury in time for the final three games on the Colts’ regular-season schedule. They could be the final three for Kelly in an Indianapolis uniform.

That’s nothing Kelly wasn’t expecting.

During the offseason, the Colts signed defensive tackle DeForest Buckner, linebacker Zaire Franklin, defensive end Tyquan Lewis, cornerback Kenny Moore, wide receiver Michael Pittman and defensive tackle Grover Stewart to contract extensions. But there wasn’t one for Kelly, as there had been in 2020, with the four-time Pro Bowler entering the final season of this contract.

“I knew that when I was going into the season,” Kelly said. “… Didn’t have a contract extension, right? So, I mean, it is what it is. You know, we don’t know when our time is due. I mean, the amount of guys who are able to say this is when I’m walking away for this reason and have all the control over that is slim to none. And I have no idea what my future holds. I mean, that’s the one thing I realized after I lost my daughter, after I went through ’22 season. Didn’t know if I’d be here in ’23, pro ball in ’23. It’s like, I don’t know what happens in ’25. Like, I have no idea.

“But, like, I know that this year injury-wise hasn’t gone the way I wanted it to go. But I can control what I can control. And I’ve got potentially three games left as a Colt, right? So I’ll play those the best I can and see how far the card’s left after that.”

Kelly comes back with a Colts’ trip to the playoffs barely possible. At 6-8, Indianapolis missed its opportunity to become a more viable contender in its previous game – a 31-13 loss to the Denver Broncos. Indianapolis must win its remaining three games to have an opportunity to go to the playoffs, and that won’t be enough if the Broncos, Baltimore Ravens and Los Angeles Chargers manage one more victory apiece before the end of the regular season.

“It’s disappointing, right?” Kelly said. “I mean, you know, the second half of the last game, right? I mean, you wish you had that back. But I think it’s one of those things. You get into football, you start getting into week-by-week, and you just kind of roll into your Monday, then your Tuesday. And although the outside writes this, that and the other, your Wednesday still looks the same. You have a choice whether you can go get better or get worse on the field. And you have the opportunity to embrace the guys that are around you, play with them for another play, play with them for another game, another three games, and cherish that moment, or just do it in a little way and say, you know, well, whatever.

“I think you can look back and you have two choices in your career of what you want to do. I think all the guys in the room and on the team realize that there’s still three games to go, so we’re going to give everything we got. But certainly, yeah, I mean, it sucks when you’re a little bit of a long shot to make the playoffs again.”

Kelly had hoped to be back from a knee injury for the game against Denver.

‘It took a little bit longer than I thought to rehab,” Kelly said, “but it could be because I’m 31. But the training staff got me right. The equipment staff, everybody’s been busting their butt to get me back. Likewise for myself, too, so I’m excited to get back out there.”

Kelly already had missed two games this season on Sept. 29 and Oct. 6 because of a neck injury. Then a knee injury landed him on injured reserve on Nov. 5. Tanor Bortolini, a 2024 fourth-round draft choice from Wisconsin, filled in for Kelly.

“It’s frustrating,” Kelly said. “… The knee thing, it just flared up to the point where I couldn’t mentally or physically go through that another week. I thought that cleaning it up at the time was the best thing for me in my performance to help the team. Obviously, missing the two weeks there, then, you know, going on IR for short term was frustrating. Going into Year 9, going into my last year on my contract and not being able to help my team be on the field, right? So I think that’s the hardest part.

“But I think, like, you’ve seen the offensive line, we’ve gone down some positions here and there, but I think you’ve seen a lot of guys step up and do a great job. So frustrating personally, but as a room, I think I’m really proud of the performance that we’ve all gone out there and done throughout the year. We haven’t played our best at times, but we always just keep moving forward.”

Indianapolis still will be without right tackle Braden Smith. The former Auburn All-American has missed the previous two games and is out for the rest of the season on reserve/non-football illness with what the Colts termed a personal matter.

RELATED: COLTS PLACE BRADEN SMITH ON NON-FOOTBALL ILLNESS WITHOUT EXPLANATION

“Having gone through personal stuff myself,” Kelly said, “I think it’s — you want to hear from people, but I feel like sometimes you, as another person on the other side, don’t want to be overbearing, so kind of give them their space to do what they have to do, heal what they have to heal. We’ve mentioned multiple times that we’re here for him, praying for him, whatever he needs in his journey, in his family’s journey, so he’s obviously a long-time brother of mine, and so he’s doing what he has to do to get it right.”

Kelly and his wife lost their daughter, Mary Kate, to a miscarriage in 2021.

RELATED: RYAN KELLY RECOGNIZED FOR ‘TRUE PASSION PROJECT’ AFTER TRAGEDY

The Colts play the Tennessee Titans in an AFC South game at noon CST Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. After that, the Colts have the New York Giants on Dec. 29 and the Jacksonville Jaguars on Jan. 5 remaining on their regular-season schedule.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.