Colts Players Find Scrimmaging Bears Beneficial

Earlier today, the Indianapolis Colts scrimmaged against the Chicago Bears as part of a pre-arranged joint practice.

Due to inclement weather, the Colts first-team offense played against the Bears first-team defense at the Colts Complex, while the Colts first-team defense actually played the Bears first-team offense under the bright lights of Lucas Oil Stadium.

While it was still practice, Colts players found the luxury of going up against opponents that weren’t their teammates rather refreshing:

"“A ton. You get comfortable when you go up against the same guys long enough. For the tight ends, tackles, I’m sure for everybody, it was just a refresher to go up against someone else. Really concentrate on your technique,” said tight end Dwayne Allen regarding today’s joint scrimmage.“When you get into the habit of going up against the same person, you pick up on little keys and tendencies that they have, and you can sometimes play out of your technique, but going up against someone new forces you to get back to the basics,” added Allen."

It was a sentiment that was re-echoed by his teammate Jerrell Freeman, who enjoyed playing the Bears first-team offense downtown at Lucas Oil Stadium:

"“It was competition,” said Freeman. “We are out there fighting and getting off, it wasn’t anything bad. It was just good solid competition. Good clean fun.”“I mean it’s football, so you’re still going to bang,” remarked Freeman. “Still going to have a little bit of ay-oh-oh, but all-in-all I think it was good. Two classy organizations going up against each other, performing and competing.”"

Freeman’s fellow starter at inside linebacker D’Qwell Jackson shared similar feelings on what appears to be a highly beneficial experience for the entire team:

"“It’s a great opportunity for us to go up against a different opponent,” said Jackson. “We didn’t do any game planning against them. It’s good with our guys, we’ve got to take care of our guys (teammates). Not to say, we’re not going to take care of these guys (Bears), but you get to rev it up a bit, and it’s more of a game atmosphere.”"

Heck, even running back Zurlon Tipton weighed in on the action, noting it was a great opportunity to see some fresh looks and bodies:

"“I’d say it’s needed a lot actually,” said Tipton.” I know in camp I get sick of looking at these guys everyday and going up against the same guys everyday, but it gives you different faces, different schemes to go up against. I think it’s real helpful for us.”"

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