Robert Mathis: Still Recovering, Wanting to Repeat 2006

It has been eight years since the Indianapolis Colts won the Super Bowl. From that team, only two players remain on the team roster: Adam Vinatieri and Robert Mathis.

Those two players are leaders on and off the field, and know a lot about winning in the NFL. After the Colts open minicamp practice at Lucas Oil Stadium, team owner Jim Irsay gave Mathis a watch tied to the Deacon Jones Award he won in 2013 for posting 19.5 sacks, the most in the league. Mathis, who has been with the team since 2003, took the opportunity to challenge the team, saying “let 2006 happen again.”

But while Mathis is getting his teammates fired up off the field, it might be awhile before he can get back on the turf and hassell opposing quarterbacks.

In an update from Kevin Bowen at Colts.com, Mathis is still recovering from an Achilles injury suffered last season. Coach Chuck Pagano has faith in Mathis and believes that he will on the field this season.

"“When he gets cleared, we’ll get him back on the grass,” Pagano said of Mathis at the end of the team’s mini-camp. “Then when we get him back, we’ve got to be smart with how we get him back in the lineup and those type of things.“Time will tell. I’m not Kreskin or Nostradamus. I don’t know. I’m not trying to be a jokester. I don’t know. If anybody can do it, I’m putting my money on him.”"

The Colts are all-in this season on another Super Bowl run and made that very clear with all of the off season moves. They even made the move to sign Trent Cole as an insurance policy against further setbacks in Mathis’ recovery.

Jim Irsay stated that we might not see Mathis until November, but that was a sort of worst case scenario situation. We’ll have more information in three weeks when training camp opens in Anderson, Ind.