Colts Camp: Notes From Wednesday’s Practice

The Indianapolis Colts moved on into the final few days of training camp on Wednesday afternoon. After today, the team will have just two more practices at Anderson University before breaking camp and heading back to Indy.

The Colts also have just four days until their first preseason meeting against the Eagles in Philadelphia. Kickoff for that game is at 1:00 PM.

Injury Updates

The Colts had two players to add to the injury list today. Donte Moncrief was out with a groin injury and OLB Daniel Adongo was held out with a sore oblique. Cornerbacks Darius Butler and Vontae Davis are both still out with sore groins, but neither has been ruled out of Sunday’s game against Philly.

Linebacker Nate Irving continued to workout on the side field with the PUP boys: Robert Mathis and Donald Thomas. They were joined by Vick Ballard, who hasn’t done much work since early in camp. Ballard working with a trainer is a definite improvement over watching practice all day from the sideline.

Game Simulation

Today’s practice featured the team running game-like situations. The offense and defense were on opposite sidelines (as opposed to clustered behind the play on the field) and the offense operated within the downs (chains moved, play clock and game clock, etc.).

The Colts opened up in the red zone at the 20. It took Andrew Luck and company five plays to find the end zone off a toss to Frank Gore around the left side of the line. The play before, Jalil Brown broke up a pass intended for Andrew Johnson that would have been for a touchdown.

With the second unit, Duron Carter could have had two touchdowns. The first was ruled dead at the four-yard line, but would have go into the end zone in a real game. The next play he caught a touchdown on a crossing route with a corner draped across his back.

The Colts then simulated a hurry up drive from their own 35 with just over a minute left to play. Luck drove the offense down to the 22 yard line and set up a short field goal in that time frame.

A second drive started at the 25 yard line and the Colts had 1:19 to get a touchdown or field goal. This drive didn’t go nearly as well. Brown and rookie safety Clayton Geathers had big pass breakups to keep the offense from getting comfortable. Luck was forced to chuck a deep pass as time expired and Geathers intercepted the ball in the end zone.

Closing Competition

Just before practice ended, the Colts crowded around the end zone and held a one-on-one competition. One receiver versus one defensive back from the five-yard line.

The offense won the first two matchups but the defense took the final three (helped out by two drops). The winner was showered with praise, the loser given half-hearted fist bumps. The players clearly wanted to keep going but Chuck Pagano broke practice after the five plays.

Here’s what else stood out from practice:

• Johnson is entertaining to watch regardless of the play. During warmups, he had a one-handed catch nearly the sideline and deep over-the-shoulder catch featuring nifty footwork to stay in bounds. Both plays drew big cheers from the fans.
• Carter continues to cement his roster spot. He scored two touchdowns in one-on-one drills, and nearly two more in game simulations. During drills featuring eight defenders vs five receivers, Carter had two touchdowns, three receptions and 45 yards.
• Brown continues to impress after Pagano praised him the other day. He broke up two passes and continues to provide tight coverage against the talented receivers.
• Rookie running back Josh Robinson had a nice run with the third string. He cut back across the line and ran up field nearly uncontested. He likely would have scored in a real game. Robinson had been out with an injury, but he’s been present for the last two practices. If he makes the roster, it will be due to great performances in the preseason games.
• This is obvious, but there is a painfully large gap between the first and second string offenses. Plays often devolve into coverage sacks and Carter has become a safety net. Jonotthan Harrison had another bad snap, that’s three so far that I’ve seen in camp.
• Adam Vinatieri was completely perfect on the day. He hit nine-of-nine field goals in special teams work, including ones from 54, 60, and 64 yards out. He also hit five more in situational work.
• The new extra point attempt threw the defense for a moment. Players lined up at the two yard line, only to realize they needed to be at the 15 per the new rules. It is odd to watch and frankly seems like an unnecessary rule change.