Colts Camp: Notes From Tuesday’s Practice

The Indianapolis Colts held their third open practice of training camp Tuesday afternoon. The team was on the practice field today and a number of veterans had the day off.

The notable players taking a day of rest included Andre Johnson, Vontae Davis, D’Qwell Jackson, and Bjoern Werner all had the day off. Vick Ballard appeared to tweak his hamstring early in practice and was held out as a precaution, but it doesn’t sound too serious. Ballard might get a day or two off.

Making headlines today was the fact that T.Y. Hilton‘s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, was at camp to discuss contract negotiations with GM Ryan Grigson. Rosenhaus said that Hilton wants to be with the Colts for the rest of his career and that working out a deal before the start of the season is the goal.

While it didn’t happen in the Colts camp, the Houston Texans suffered a big blow as running back Arian Foster injured his groin. Reports indicate he needs surgery and might be put on the IR/Designated to Return list. Foster averages 120 yards rushing per game against the Colts and they’d catch a break in Week 5 (at Houston) if he’s out.

Here’s what stood out from today’s practice:

• Andrew Luck is dealing in practice. His completion percentage would have been down today, but that was largely due to drops. The team appears to have built in more dump off routes and Luck is checking down more often (compared to last year’s camp).
• Chuck Pagano was wearing an Eric Berry shirt. Berry was recently cleared to return to the Kansas City Chiefs after beating Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Pagano has been in Berry’s corner and a big support of him in his fight.
• Donte Moncrief was WR 2 with Johnson getting the day off. The Colts lined up with Hilton and Moncrief outside and Phillip Dorsett in the slot, which appeared to be the first string offense. Luck got reps with every receiver today as they used a liberal rotation at the position.
• Speaking of Dorsett, he worked over his fellow rookie, cornerback D’Joun Smith multiple times in one-on-one drills. Smith was also beat badly by Hilton on a deep in route.
• Dorsett also burned safety Dwight Lowery on a deep route during seven-on-seven drills.
• Safety Mike Adams had an interception on a Matt Hasselbeck pass intended for Dorsett. The pass hung up in the air too long and Adams had a nice return with it.
• The starting offensive line remained the same: Anthony Castonzo, Lance Louis, Khaled Holmes, Todd Herremans, and Jack Mewhort. There’s a good chance it doesn’t change much until the first preseason game (they could always give a guy the day off as well, though).
• Dwayne Allen had a drop in 11-on-11 drills (looked up field before corralling the pass) and he spent time on the jugs machine after practice was over to work on his hands. He also had a 30-plus yard reception over the middle as Luck was pressured.
• Frank Gore is really impressive. As said before, there is a big gap between him and the other backs. The difference isn’t just speed, but his consistency on plays. Gore had one bad play where he would have been tackled for a loss by Jerrell Freeman on a delayed handoff.
• Coby Fleener has looked solid so far. He hasn’t had any drops and is consistently on the same page with Luck. Fleener seems to know where to go to get open when Luck move out of the pocket.
• Hilton appeared to hurt his hand at one point. He spent a few minutes with trainers looking at his left hand, but returned to practice after missing just a couple snaps. It didn’t seem to bother him one bit.
• Moncrief had a few bad drops, where ball hit him square in the hands. Most were early in practice, and during full scrimmages he made some impressive snags.
• Josh Robinson got a bit more work with the second team. He had a big gain on a screen pass during 11-on-11 drills.
• Pat McAfee and Adam Vinatieri spent time kicking on Anderson University’s main field behind the stands. When they came back over, they took the time to fist bump all the kids running around and say ‘hi’ to everyone. McAfee is like a rockstar at practice.
• Vinatieri proved he’s still got a hell of a leg at 42. He was 8-f0r-10 on attempts (in full 11-0n-11 workouts). He missed from 50 and 62 yards out, but nailed his 55 and 60 yarders.

Make sure to stay tuned as we offer up more notes from training camp.