Colts Camp: Notes From Friday’s Practice

The Indianapolis Colts were back at practice after a day of rest and delighted a crowd of over 3,000 fans. The team still has over a week before the first preseason game but the competition is heating up in Anderson, Ind.

There was a lot to take in from today’s practice. A few players really stood out today and the team continues to look impressive at a couple of positions.

The Colts have just six practices left during training camp at Anderson University. Plenty of time to get a better handle on who wins some of the key roster battles.

Duron Carter

Carter has had about one impressive play per practice so far during training camp. Today, he was the standout star. Carter hauled in four touchdown, and three were in spectacular fashion. He had a one-handed diving reception in red zone drills to open the floodgate of practice TDs.

Carter beat a defender on an out route, dragging his feet while snagging the pass away from his body during hurry-up drills. In goal line work, Carter jumped over the defender to pluck the ball out of the air as he was being shoved by the corner. His final touchdown was a ho-hum corner fade route in the endzone, the kind that Marvin Harrison made a career out of.

While none of these receptions came against the first team defense, Carter made good plays against tight coverage and with less than stellar throws by Matt Hasselbeck.

Carter has been called lazy before, but nothing he’s shown at camp indicates that he doesn’t try hard or have passion for the game. There might be some merit to that idea if this had been his breakout performance, but looking back through my notes I’ve got multiple plays singled out that he made at each practice.

Andrew Luck

We haven’t talked much about Luck during camp. Fans have a good idea what to expect from him. That said, he looks very sharp and today was no exception. Luck’s first pass of the day? A 40-yard bomb to Phillip Dorsett for a touchdown in one-on-one drills with Greg Toler in tight coverage.

Luck was especially sharp in red zone work. He threw four touchdown passes in a row, two of which went to Coby Fleener. Dwayne Allen was forced to make an impressive one-handed grab in the back of the end zone as Luck scrambled. Luck’s fourth was a pinpoint pass between Darius Butler and Mike Adams to Andre Johnson.

Absences and Injury Updates

T.Y Hilton was not at camp today and the official word is that he was attending to a personal matter. It wouldn’t have been surprising for Hilton to be given a day off during the two week’s of practices.

Rookie running back Josh Robinson was held out of practice due to vague “general soreness.” Vick Ballard is still out with a sore hamstring and is listed as day-to-day.

Robert Mathis worked on a far field with a trainer and proceeded to destroy a tackling dummy. He was joined by Donald Thomas and Nate Irving as they all rehab their injuries.

Here’s what else stood out from practice:

• The Colts spent a lot time working on red zone sets. Luck’s first two touchdowns came on four and five wide receiver sets.
• Watching Johnson run routes is beautiful. His timing with Luck is already impressive. In one-on-one drills, Johnson ran a 10-yard in. The ball was in the air before he made his cut and about five feet in front of his face when he looked up to catch it. This may seem routine, but you don’t see the same thing from other receivers at practice.
• Donte Moncrief was the clear second receiver on the field with Hilton out for the day. That likely means he’s currently third on the depth chart. He also had a few nice plays, including a touchdown over two defenders.
• The offensive line has remained the same throughout camp. Anthony Castonzo, Lance Louis, Khaled Holmes, Todd Herremans, and Jack Mewhort. We won’t be able to fully evaluate the position until the first preseason game next weekend.
• Hasselbeck leaves the pocket far more often than Luck, although if those were real plays he would have been sacked far before taking off.
• Luck’s cadence forced another false start today. He’ll likely get at least five free yards a game this season with those plays alone.