Notes from Colts camp

[AlwaysSunnyinIndy]

https://twitter.com/zkeefer/status/1295372653939875841

Early observations from Colts camp:
— Philip Rivers likes throwing to TY Hilton
— The d-line just *looks*completely different with Buckner in the middle
— Kenny Moore back to his usual self, blowing up plays
— for the 100th time, don’t sleep on Marlon Mack just bc Taylor is here

https://twitter.com/zkeefer/status/1295386925998645249

Colts will have just 11 padded practices before the opener — "nothing compared to past years," says center Ryan Kelly.

Frank Reich's message to his team: We're gonna go hard during these. With no preseason games, team has to ramp up the physicality fast.

28 days to kickoff.

https://twitter.com/JoelAErickson/status/1295389221071523840

Frank Reich happy with the physicality of today's practice, first in full pads. Liked what he saw.

https://twitter.com/zkeefer/status/1295393884957179904

Colts' rookie RB Jonathan Taylor is listed at 510 and 226 lbs — but looks way bigger. This dude's built.

"My coaches always told me the most physical guys are the ones who move the chains. I take pride in that."

https://twitter.com/JoelAErickson/status/1295393931258191874

One of the biggest differences between a Wisconsin practice and a Colts practice, Jonathan Taylor says, is everybody knows where to go and what to do.

https://twitter.com/JoelAErickson/status/1295371020744953858

Denico Autry playing defensive end today

https://twitter.com/JoelAErickson/status/1295388889658667014

Frank Reich says the kicking competition isn't going to come down to just percentage. McLaughlin's experience weighs in; so does the way the ball comes off the foot. Not all makes are the same, not all misses are the same. Will be a comprehensive evaluation.

Injury News:

https://twitter.com/zkeefer/status/1295388441405018113

Colts held DE Justin Houston out of practice today with a minor neck injury; he had an awkward collision in Sunday's practice.

CB Kenny Moore strained his groin this morning. Colts will monitor over the next day or two.

https://twitter.com/JoelAErickson/status/1295388601946124289

Braden Smith has been battling through a foot issue. Colts don't think it's major. Reich says team wants to get started on the right foot, don't want somebody to push it on something minor.

[AlwaysSunnyinIndy]

https://twitter.com/JoelAErickson/status/1295736926553739264

Completions for Rivers to Mack, Taylor, Hines. He does love the RBs


https://twitter.com/JoelAErickson/status/1295752836345724928

Frank Reich talking about Jonathan Taylor's vision: It's very evident for us watching him; he's moving vertically through the hole and then suddenly slide steps into space.


https://twitter.com/JoelAErickson/status/1295759788723392513

I've put out a lot of Jonathan Taylor tweets, but Marlon Mack has looked really good the first two days, too. Vision and quickness on display, and he's been catching the ball more than usual, too.


https://twitter.com/JoelAErickson/status/1295755025503969280

Colts are splitting up the roster by number -- 0-49 with one kicker, 50 and up with another -- and the kicker who "loses" the day, those teammates run.

https://twitter.com/JoelAErickson/status/1295735590793732096

. . . Ball looked a little different off of McLaughlin’s foot, more force


Injury News:

https://twitter.com/JoelAErickson/status/1295755145943425025

Colts are hopeful that Kemoko Turay will be back on the field soon.

Kenny Moore will be out at least a week, per Reich.

https://twitter.com/JoelAErickson/status/1295752381364346881

Frank Reich: Trey Burton, T.Y. Hilton both on maintenance days.

Xavier Rhodes was out with an illness. Not in building today. Colts being precautionary.

[Discflinger]

That’s a really cool idea to place more pressure on the kickers.

[AlwaysSunnyinIndy]

The Colts had a lot of guys in for a tryout today:

TE's
Shawn Clark
Justin Johnson
Ben Koyack
Caleb Repp

DB's
Malik Gant
Doug Middleton
Roderic Teamer

C
Nico Falah

[Chromeburn]

Seems Parris is making up for a lackluster rookie season.

https://www.colts.com/news/philip-rivers-parris-campbell-kenny-moore-frank-reich-training-camp

[AlwaysSunnyinIndy]

https://twitter.com/JoelAErickson/status/1296078455067619328

Colts will practice at Lucas Oil next Monday and Saturday to get a run-through on game day operations. No fans will be there

https://twitter.com/JoelAErickson/status/1296109677458141187

Rivers was on target for most of the practice, outside of the interception. Two of his 4 incompletions were drops (A bobble by Hilton that might have carried him out of bounds before he secured it and a drop by Campbell)

https://twitter.com/JoelAErickson/status/1296114424797855745

Rivers says the summer work he was able to do with some of the Colts receivers has helped considerably.

https://twitter.com/zkeefer/status/1296116572306669570

"He's off to a heck of a start this training camp," Philip Rivers says of Colts' second-year WR Parris Campbell. "Lot of big-play potential."

https://twitter.com/JoelAErickson/status/1296110063711596549

Eason knew he wasn't going to get many reps, but he had a couple of good ones today in the red zone. Back to back completions, including one rolling to his right.

https://twitter.com/JoelAErickson/status/1295766087167025159

Anthony Walker says Tavon Wilson reminds him a lot of Mike Mitchell, who played a key role for the Colts locker room two seasons ago.

https://twitter.com/JoelAErickson/status/1296119388727382019

Frank Reich: Special teams is an interesting dynamic without preseason games. Colts coaching staff has talked a lot about how to emphasize it.

https://twitter.com/zkeefer/status/1296099699456450560

Nyheim Hines and Parris Campbell splitting punt return duties today — that’s a lot of speed back there. Will be fun to watch this battle play out.

https://twitter.com/JoelAErickson/status/1296120194490929152

Reich sees two different styles of kickers in McLaughlin and Blankenship. McLaughlin reminds Reich of Steve Christie, sort of unflappable, willing to do whatever he's asked, go with the flow. Blankenship is very regimented, detailed.

https://twitter.com/JoelAErickson/status/1296123214742138880

McLaughlin says it feels like he's been in the league longer than he has because he was with so many different teams last year.

https://twitter.com/JoelAErickson/status/1296128091471978499

Rodrigo Blankenship knows he earned a little bit more attention from college football fans than the average kicker.

He tried to focus on what he was doing. "The rest is kind of just the icing on the cake."

Injury News:

https://twitter.com/JoelAErickson/status/1296085322007302145

Justin Houston is back ...at practice... today

https://twitter.com/JoelAErickson/status/1296119557409693696

Sheldon Day has been dealing with a knee injury. Frank Reich says it will be a little bit.

https://twitter.com/JoelAErickson/status/1296089122126336001

Looks like Xavier Rhodes is back at practice today. Out with an illness yesterday

[TheMugwump]

That’s a really cool idea to place more pressure on the kickers.

The bigger guys (linemen and lbs) usually have the bigger numbers. I'd hate to be the kicker with 50+ and lose. That would not be a happy locker room.

[AlwaysSunnyinIndy]

https://twitter.com/zkeefer/status/1296834712657436676

Quick Colts practice today:
— Rivers was sharp. Couldn't have had more than a few incompletions.
— Really nice day for Trey Burton. The TE caught a bunch
— Tyquan Lewis continues to look strong in 1v1 drills
— Rock Ya-Sin with a nice breakup in the endzone against Michael Pittman

https://twitter.com/zkeefer/status/1296839721470042114

Colts OC Nick Sirianni believes this is the best running back room he's worked with in his 12 years in the NFL. Mack, Taylor, Hines, Wilkins — the depth and versatility, he says, this group can do it all.

https://twitter.com/zkeefer/status/1296853767330168841

Colts running back Marlon Mack, speaking for the first time since the team drafted Jonathan Taylor the second round this spring: “We can be great together ... the dude is gonna be beast. Just wait.”

https://twitter.com/mchappell51/status/1296837424501395463

Robert Mathis joined Colts practice today. Still bringing that pass-rush experience to d-line

https://twitter.com/JoelAErickson/status/1296836460352544774

Eberflus: "We're pleasantly pleased with Tyquan (Lewis). ... The third year for some defensive linemen is sometimes the sweet spot."

https://twitter.com/JoelAErickson/status/1296837839209009153

Eberflus says the camp Tyquan Lewis has been having is reminiscent of the way Grover Stewart broke out last August.

https://twitter.com/JoelAErickson/status/1296836294866350081

Eberflus on Tavon Wilson: "We like him. He's good at a lot of things." Colts are figuring out where those things all fit best in the defense.

Injury News:

https://twitter.com/Colts/status/1296787153381478400

We have removed TE Mo Alie-Cox from the PUP List.

https://twitter.com/mchappell51/status/1296821789025284100

More than a few Colts out after off day:

DeForest Buckner
Jack Doyle
Denico Autry

Usual suspects:
Braden Smith
Sheldon Day
Kenny Moore

https://twitter.com/mchappell51/status/1296835824051458049

Colts Injury update:
Denico Autry - Ankle
DeForest Buckner - Hand
Jack Doyle - Neck

[Hoopsdoc]

Did Eberflus really say Grover Stewart “broke out” last year?

[Chromeburn]

Did Eberflus really say Grover Stewart “broke out” last year?

Grover Stewart was slowly progressing the past couple years. He just doesn’t get much love for some reason. And considering he was drafted for a 3-4 and had completely reshaped his body for a 4-3, not to shabby.

Nice to see the blurbs about Lewis. He had tons of potential. Statistically he was the most effective pass rushing lineman at OSU of the entire group. And that is impressive considering who his teammates were. Sometimes it just takes time for a lineman to develop. Few rookies come charging out of the gate and most take several years to really contribute. I had almost written Lewis off. Hopefully he can start putting it together in games.

[AlwaysSunnyinIndy]

Colts add another TE to the mix for now. Were getting low on available TE's - Doyle has already missed a practice or two because of a neck issue, Alie-Cox had been on PUP (just activated), Bunting left practice today with an injury (don't know the extent/severity yet), etc.


https://twitter.com/TomPelissero/status/1296909637166534656

The #Colts claimed TE Andrew Vollert off waivers, per the transaction wire. Another chance for the onetime "Hard Knocks" star.

https://twitter.com/JoelAErickson/status/1296910799005515777

If you watched the first episode of Hard Knocks, you know Vollert, who was pretty upset when he got cut by the Chargers after a lengthy rehabilitation from a torn ACL last year.

[AlwaysSunnyinIndy]

Grover Stewart was slowly progressing the past couple years. He just doesn’t get much love for some reason. And considering he was drafted for a 3-4 and had completely reshaped his body for a 4-3, not to shabby.



The Colts increased the snap count for Grover, too, from the 2018 to 2019 season - his snap count doubled. I thought he responded well. He obviously was not an All-Pro caliber player but I thought his play was solid.

2018: played in under 30% of defensive snaps, was not a starter
2019: played in over 60% of defensive snaps, was a starter for 13 of the 16 games.

[AlwaysSunnyinIndy]

https://twitter.com/JoelAErickson/status/1297209358774919170

Reich says that one of the ways the Colts are making up for a lack of reps for Jacob Eason in practice is to work hard on the walk-through, see if he's making the right checks, the right calls, the right run protections.

https://twitter.com/JoelAErickson/status/1297207303729446914

Frank Reich happy with his defense today, and you could see why. Rivers and Brissett had been completing a lot, but Rivers was 9 of 15 by informal count today, Brissett was 4 of 9.

https://twitter.com/JoelAErickson/status/1297208002106347520

Trey Burton was the Colts emergency long snapper with Luke Rhodes out today


Injury News:

https://twitter.com/JoelAErickson/status/1297174799484162049

Denico Autry and DeForest Buckner back in pads today

https://twitter.com/JoelAErickson/status/1297172706086060033

Braden Smith (foot) still out, along with Jack Doyle (neck), Ian Bunting (hamstring) and Isaiah Rodgers (leg)

https://twitter.com/JoelAErickson/status/1297207350726725632

Reich says Braden Smith is close to returning.

https://twitter.com/JoelAErickson/status/1297208301663531009

Reich on Doyle: "Jack's fine. He's incredibly valuable to the offense, so we're being cautious with him. ... We're taking it slow with Jack."

https://twitter.com/JoelAErickson/status/1297208480319901696

Colts are going to give Doyle as much as time as possible to get healthy, given that it's a neck injury and they know what Doyle can do.

[AlwaysSunnyinIndy]

The Colts made a few roster moves today:

Signed:

CB - Andre Chachere
C - Joey Hunt

Placed on Injured Reserve:

OT - Andrew Donnal

Waived / Injured Reserve (if he clears waivers, will be placed on Colts IR):

TE - Ian Bunting


https://www.colts.com/news/andre-chachere-joey-hunt-andrew-donnal-roster-moves

[AlwaysSunnyinIndy]

Colts had a light practice today. There were a lot of players that had a maintenance day off. The Colts will practice at Lucas Oil Stadium tomorrow and try to treat it more as a game day since there are no preseason games.

One positive note today: Braden Smith was back on the practice field. :cool:

[Chromeburn]

Parris Campbell is in concussion protocol. He was in a minor car crash. But doesn’t look serious and should be back.

[AlwaysSunnyinIndy]

Parris Campbell is in concussion protocol. He was in a minor car crash. But doesn’t look serious and should be back.

Unbelievable. Parris has had the worst luck with injuries the last year. Nothing has been repetitive, however - each injury unrelated to the prior one....hamstring, abdominal, fractured hand, fractured foot, and now concussion.

The Colts have had the worst luck drafting Ohio State Buckeyes.

On a positive note, Parris was able to practice today with the team wearing a non-contact jersey.


https://twitter.com/zkeefer/status/1300851326390276097

Colts WR Parris Campbell back at practice today, albeit in a red non-contact jersey. One would think without any snags he’ll he cleared by next Sunday.

[AlwaysSunnyinIndy]

The Colts had tryouts for a bunch of RB's today. I imagine they are looking for a RB to stash on the Practice Squad and help out on Special Teams if needed.

Javon Leake
Taquan Mizzell
Khalfani Muhammad
C.J. Prosise
Cameron Scarlett
Jordan Scarlett

[Brylok]

Unbelievable. Parris has had the worst luck with injuries the last year. Nothing has been repetitive, however - each injury unrelated to the prior one....hamstring, abdominal, fractured hand, fractured foot, and now concussion.

The Colts have had the worst luck drafting Ohio State Buckeyes.

On a positive note, Parris was able to practice today with the team wearing a non-contact jersey.


https://twitter.com/zkeefer/status/1300851326390276097

Totally believable; that poor kid appears to be jinxed. We should stop drafting Ohio State players. Been saying it for years now...

[Chromeburn]

Came across this article. Kicking battle might be closer than we think now.

https://horseshoeheroes.com/2020/08/31/colts-rodrigo-blankenship-kicking-competition/

[AlwaysSunnyinIndy]

Came across this article. Kicking battle might be closer than we think now.

https://horseshoeheroes.com/2020/08/31/colts-rodrigo-blankenship-kicking-competition/


I agree that the kicking competition is close.

That article / blog post was very poorly written, however. The author appears to be a fanboy of Rodrigo.

[CanuckColt]

Totally believable; that poor kid appears to be jinxed. We should stop drafting Ohio State players. Been saying it for years now...

The Ohio State players do seem to be more brittle than others.

[YDFL Commish]

Actually, only the Ohio St. players that we draft seem to be more brittle. They seem to hold up well on other teams.

[TheMugwump]

The curse of Art Schlichter...

[Brylok]

The curse of Art Schlichter...
The only man named 'Art' worth remembering was the maintenance man on Night Court. An exception can be made for 'Art Vandalay', the George Costanza assumed name from Seinfeld.

[YDFL Commish]

The only man named 'Art' worth remembering was the maintenance man on Night Court. An exception can be made for 'Art Vandalay', the George Costanza assumed name from Seinfeld.

Artie Donovan?

[rcubed]

What do you call a guy with no arms and no legs and hangs out by the wall?


Art.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Hoopsdoc]

I think Pittman is the next in the Harrison/Wayne/Hilton line of pro bowl receivers.

[JAFF]

I think Pittman is the next in the Harrison/Wayne/Hilton line of pro bowl receivers.

Without playing one regular season game. Bold choice

[Racehorse]

What do you call a guy with no arms and no legs and hangs out by the wall?


Art.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
The dude changes his name every time he changes location

[JAFF]

The dude changes his name every time he changes location

What do you call a man with no arms and no legs swimming?

[Hoopsdoc]

Without playing one regular season game. Bold choice

Alright, he’s the next in the Moorehead/Baskett/Hall/Cain line of sucky receivers.

Better?:D

[Racehorse]

What do you call a man with no arms and no legs swimming?

Bob

[rcubed]

What do you call a guy with no arms and no legs and sits on the front porch?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[JAFF]

Bob

That would be floating, not swimming

[JAFF]

What do you call a guy with no arms and no legs and sits on the front porch?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Matt

[TheMugwump]

What do you call a guy with no arms and no legs who is in your mailbox?

[JAFF]

What do you call a guy with no arms and no legs who is in your mailbox?

Bill

[rcubed]

Bill


Nice. Hadnt heard that one.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Chromeburn]

What do you call a guy with no arms and no legs on your wall?

[JAFF]

What do you call a guy with no arms and no legs on your wall?

Art

[HoosierinFL]

Don't forget the guy with no arms and no legs in a pile of leaves!

[JAFF]

Russell

[Racehorse]

What do you call a guy with no arms and legs under the bed?

[HoosierinFL]

What do you call a guy with no arms and legs under the bed?

Dusty?