Colts: Darius Leonard’s Twitter likes full of motivation after Week 1

Indianapolis Colts LB Darius Leonard, potentially the league’s biggest maniac, loves to populate his Twitter likes with as many detractors as possible, juicing himself up for the next week’s game by devouring as much bad press as he can get his fingers on.

Needless to say, after Sunday’s snoozeworthy opener, packed with some Leonard lowlights, the linebacker has plenty of material.

A quick trip to his “likes” section in the aftermath of the loss tells the story of the game; naturally, Leonard mostly focused on his own picked-apart coverage on Seahawks TE Gerald Everett, which led directly to to Seattle’s second touchdown of the day.

And yes, Leonard even liked a tweet that read, “Like this tweet if you want to, Darius.”

He responded to the sardonic dare by following directions.

Colts LB Darius Leonard “liked” his haters again after the team’s Week 1 loss.

Whether he likes it or not, Leonard’s placed the pressure squarely on his own shoulders by demanding to be the engine that powers Indianapolis’ defense — and he’s also proven his point over the past several years by rising from obscurity to stardom.

His gimmick of publicly reckoning with his haters by simply liking their messages and moving on will turn stale if his play continues to suffer, though. That’s undeniable.

There’s a complicating factor this year, too. There’s a burden of expectations on the roster because everything came together for a playoff appearance last season. There’s also a burden of dollar bills.

Leonard demanded he be paid commensurate with his production this offseason. The team took care of Quenton Nelson, too. Both men have to prove the timing and decision-making process was correct.

At least in public after Sunday’s loss, Leonard was curt. He didn’t seem to want to talk much.

Like always, though, his Twitter fingers told the real story in the aftermath. He had no interest in discussing his performance, but he won’t soon be forgetting it.

If there’s something to be learned from containing Russell Wilson and snuffing out his routes, the lesson had better be applied quickly. Indianapolis follows their opening loss with showdowns against the Rams, Titans, Dolphins and Ravens.

Tennessee and Miami were, in many ways, just as disappointing, but they, too, carry the burden of expectations. Let’s see if Leonard can clear his mind enough to overcome it.

Colts: Darius Leonard blasts NFL over constant PED testing

Indianapolis Colts LB Darius Leonard called out the NFL on Twitter after he was hit with multiple PED tests in the same month.