Injury Report

[Coffeedrinker]

I didn't see this posted anywhere else. If it was, I apologize and hopefully the mods will merge.

Colts.com has the injury report now. Good to see Gonzo at full participation. I think he will be needed this week.

Also, it's strange and unusual for the Colts to declare a person out this early (Brackett and Sims). I wonder if some of that has to do with seeing how Conner/Angerer/Wheeler look as a unit.

[Thewholefnshow28]

Gonzo has full participation and will play? I will believe it when I see it.

I have to imagine they are wanting to give Wheeler as much time to work with the first team to see what we got there.

Not good to see two linebackers down all ready going against a pretty good runner.

[Smitto]

Well the LB core is much quicker now that brackett is out that should show alot... hopefully gonzo doesnt get injured tomorrow running drills.

[jskinnz]

I didn't see this posted anywhere else. If it was, I apologize and hopefully the mods will merge.

Colts.com has the injury report now. Good to see Gonzo at full participation. I think he will be needed this week.

Also, it's strange and unusual for the Colts to declare a person out this early (Brackett and Sims). I wonder if some of that has to do with seeing how Conner/Angerer/Wheeler look as a unit.

Why will Gonzo be needed this week?

[jbaron04]

GONZO is playing him self out of indy i mean not playing is gonna get him out of indy so he better be ready to play if needed what ashame a first round pick is behind a 6th round, 4th round and undrafted player polian need to stop drafting them ohio state players never who out

roy hall

gonzo

quinn pitcock

[JoKeR]

Well the LB core is much quicker now that brackett is out that should show alot... hopefully gonzo doesnt get injured tomorrow running drills.

Why do you think Angerer is any faster than Bracket? Bracket is pretty fast too.

[jbaron04]

Why do you think Angerer is any faster than Bracket? Bracket is pretty fast too.

bracket has a problem wit getting off blocks due to his size

angerer 6'0" 235

wheeler 6'2" 240

conner 6'0" 242

bracket 5'10" 230

[Coffeedrinker]

Why will Gonzo be needed this week?

A few reasons.

1. I don't think Garcon will be able to do much against Haden, he is good and fast. So I think the Colts will want someone who is a better, more precise route runner. I think that will be Collie, which will move Gonzo into the slot.

2. From watching the Cincy/Browns, I don't think the Browns' safeties, LBers and beyond their 1st two Cbs are very good. Combined with I think the oline for the Colts will do fine against the front 7 for the Browns, I think the best way to attack the Browns will be 3 and sometimes 4 WR sets.

[jskinnz]

A few reasons.

1. I don't think Garcon will be able to do much against Haden, he is good and fast. So I think the Colts will want someone who is a better, more precise route runner. I think that will be Collie, which will move Gonzo into the slot.

2. From watching the Cincy/Browns, I don't think the Browns' safeties, LBers and beyond their 1st two Cbs are very good. Combined with I think the oline for the Colts will do fine against the front 7 for the Browns, I think the best way to attack the Browns will be 3 and sometimes 4 WR sets.

You have put that "Gonzo is a better route runner" belief in a stranglehold. Perhaps it is true but I don't exactly see Garcom having trouble getting open.

I don't know how Cleveland plays their corners - does Haden always stay on the offensive right side?

The Colts have never played 4 WR's. They have split out 5 wide with Addai & Clark but never gone with 4 actual WR's. I understand this is a new dynamic we are seeing with Collins but I can't imagine that is a formation that we will see on Sunday. Especially with the line as it it.

Two questions for you

1) Do you think this Gonzo's last year as a Colt?

2) There are 3 key free agents after this season - Wayne, Mathis, & Garcon. Take everything into consideration - production, expected contract value, & age. Who is the most important to get re-signed?

[Coffeedrinker]

You have put that "Gonzo is a better route runner" belief in a stranglehold. Perhaps it is true but I don't exactly see Garcom having trouble getting open.

With Garcon it depends on the CB covering him. If he goes up against a fast CB, he's not very effective. If he goes against the more typical "zone" CB he can be very effective.

I don't know how Cleveland plays their corners - does Haden always stay on the offensive right side?

It looked like he moves around some from the game I watched but was primarily on the offensive right side. But I'm not going to draw any conclusions about that based on one game.

The Colts have never played 4 WR's. They have split out 5 wide with Addai & Clark but never gone with 4 actual WR's. I understand this is a new dynamic we are seeing with Collins but I can't imagine that is a formation that we will see on Sunday. Especially with the line as it it.

You know, I almost put this in there, with 3 WRs and Clark split wide. But I do think it's possible if Gonzo and Collie practice all week that we could see 4 WRs (Wayne, Collie, Gonzo, Garcon) all on the field at the same time. Not a primary offense but occasionally. Have the Colts done it before? Not much, but when was the last time the Colts had 4 starting quality WRs all healthy at the same time? As far as the line, that is not something that makes sense to me. Look at the SD game last year. Probably one of the worst performances of a Colts o-line in a long time against a D that historically gives the Colts fits. The first drive, however. the Colts spread them out with 3 WRs and splitting Tamme out (so in essence 4 WRs) and marched down the field for a TD with short, quick passes that negated the rush. They didn't start having problems until they went away from that after the 2nd drive when a LB got an INT. Same thing, with a weaker line spread the field out, get those LBers out of the box and get rid of the ball quickly to negate the rush. Especially since it doesn't appear that the Browns have the defense to defend that many pass catchers.

Two questions for you

1) Do you think this Gonzo's last year as a Colt?

It depends how he does. If he has less than 50 catches this year then yes. If he has more than 50 then no.

2) There are 3 key free agents after this season - Wayne, Mathis, & Garcon. Take everything into consideration - production, expected contract value, & age. Who is the most important to get re-signed?

Are you asking what I would do or what I think the Colts will do? I have no idea what the Colts will do; but what I would do of those three is Wayne, IMO, is the most important to get signed. As long as I have the right to change my mind after week 17.

[JoKeR]

I think resigning Wayne, Mathis, and Garcon are all good moves, at the right price. Garcon is the least productive of the 3 though. That's a hard question to ask who do the Colts resign.

Teams that " fall in love" with ageing players have a tendency to die, but at what point is too old? If there's players that are younger and have as much talent as said veterans, the choice is easy. You let the older players go instead of resigning them. The future becomes now.

The Colts don't have that though, so to answer your question differently, Garcon is the only player that can be replaced by a current player.

[Steagles]

Gonzo wont play at 100%, I guarantee you.

[Coffeedrinker]

Here's the injury report from today

Brackett, Gary LB Shoulder Out Out - -

Brayton, Tyler DE Knee DNP FP - -

Conner, Kavell LB Foot DNP LP - -

Eldridge, Brody TE knee - DNP - -

Foster, Eric DT Knee - DNP - -

Freeney, Dwight DE Non-injury related (rest) DNP FP - -

Gonzalez, Anthony WR Hamstring FP FP - -

Manning, Peyton QB Neck Out Out - -

Mathis, Robert DE Neck DNP LP - -

Sims, Ernie LB Knee Out Out - -

Wayne, Reggie WR Non-injury related (rest) DNP FP - -

White, Blair WR Back LP DNP -

Wayne, Gonzo, Freeney and Brayton all at FP. Don't like seeing Conner on there will Brackett and Sims already out.

What's up with Eldridge and Foster? Foster I don't think is that big of a deal (although he does play better at home than he does on the road).

[Colts20593]

Angerer is a better MLB than Brackett.

Don't prove me wrong, Pat.

[jonatron]

With Wheeler in I would not be surprised to see the Browns test him with the run game. I think they would also try exploiting the middle zone coverage and bootleg at least 10 times.

Wheeler/Angerer/Conner is not a bad LB lineup. At least they have experience from last year playing together. Improved D-line should help them in stopping the run too.

[jskinnz]

With Garcon it depends on the CB covering him. If he goes up against a fast CB, he's not very effective. If he goes against the more typical "zone" CB he can be very effective.

It looked like he moves around some from the game I watched but was primarily on the offensive right side. But I'm not going to draw any conclusions about that based on one game.

You know, I almost put this in there, with 3 WRs and Clark split wide. But I do think it's possible if Gonzo and Collie practice all week that we could see 4 WRs (Wayne, Collie, Gonzo, Garcon) all on the field at the same time. Not a primary offense but occasionally. Have the Colts done it before? Not much, but when was the last time the Colts had 4 starting quality WRs all healthy at the same time? As far as the line, that is not something that makes sense to me. Look at the SD game last year. Probably one of the worst performances of a Colts o-line in a long time against a D that historically gives the Colts fits. The first drive, however. the Colts spread them out with 3 WRs and splitting Tamme out (so in essence 4 WRs) and marched down the field for a TD with short, quick passes that negated the rush. They didn't start having problems until they went away from that after the 2nd drive when a LB got an INT. Same thing, with a weaker line spread the field out, get those LBers out of the box and get rid of the ball quickly to negate the rush. Especially since it doesn't appear that the Browns have the defense to defend that many pass catchers.

It depends how he does. If he has less than 50 catches this year then yes. If he has more than 50 then no.

Are you asking what I would do or what I think the Colts will do? I have no idea what the Colts will do; but what I would do of those three is Wayne, IMO, is the most important to get signed. As long as I have the right to change my mind after week 17.

I need to learn how to reply to specific parts of a post, like you did.

If the Colts do go 3 wide, it will be Wayne, Collie, & Garcon. I just don't think Gonzo is as good as any of those three. I have probably beaten that to death as well.

[ColtsSouljah]

I would love to see Gonzo out there contributing... man, he showed such potential his rookie year.

[jbaron04]

what if the linebackers play well with out brackett? i mean very well would that coaching staff have the to bench him ?

[Coffeedrinker]

I need to learn how to reply to specific parts of a post, like you did.

If the Colts do go 3 wide, it will be Wayne, Collie, & Garcon. I just don't think Gonzo is as good as any of those three. I have probably beaten that to death as well.

When you reply just highlight the text you want to quote and then select the quote button at the top (it looks like a little cartoon bubble)

And you could be correct, I think Garcon is a good player and I don't think his upside is huge. He seems like a studious guy so I think he will improve as he learns and remembers more defenses, but his routes are still rounded a bit too much, his comebacks are just a half step too slow and his hands are still inconsistent.

Plus I think people forget just how good and explosive Gonzo was. (I don't blame people for that, they haven't been able to see him play in two years.)

[Jason_]

I need to learn how to reply to specific parts of a post, like you did. See, you can also add text within the other user's quote and change it's color, font etc.

It's actually really easy and there are a couple different ways to do it.

1) When you reply to the whole post like you did to coffeedrinkers, you clicked the "Reply" button that is actually under his post. This brought you to the advanced reply page with a lot of text already in the reply box. The text is his post plus the necessary tags to show it as a quote. You can go into that text and delete or add anything you want. This would also allow you add text in his quote, remove text from a long post if you only want to reply to a specific part, etc.

2) Another way is the way coffeedrinker did it. First, the easiest way to do this is to have the same thread opened in 2 different tabs or browser windows so you can easily copy from one and paste to the other. Go to the bottom of the thread and click the ADD REPLY button. This brings you to the advanced reply page. Now go to the other tab you have opened, highlight the specific text from the other user's post that you want to reply to, go back to the reply tab and paste the text in. Now highlight the text again. Now, above the box where you're actually typing your message is a row of icons starting with buttons for Bold, Italics, Underline etc. Further down the row, the 4th button to the right of the smiley face looks like one of those thought/text bubbles from comic strips..if you hover over it the quicktext that pops up says "Insert quotation". Simply click this button and it automatically appends the correct html tags to create the quote.

Hope that helps.

[Coffeedrinker]

what if the linebackers play well with out brackett? i mean very well would that coaching staff have the to bench him ?

I was wondering that same thing. I am a huge Brackett fan and I have long thought (and stated) that he is under-rated; that being said when I watched the texans game on gamerewind, Brackett did not look good. He was slow dropping into his zones on several running plays it looked like everyone hit their gap, except Brackett who wasn't even really blocked, but was just shielded by a lineman 5 yards off the LOS. I was going to post some pictures on two plays that were exactly the same and Brackett played each poorly exactly the same way. One lead to a 7 or 8 yard gain and a first down, the 2nd led to a TD.

[Jason_]

2) There are 3 key free agents after this season - Wayne, Mathis, & Garcon. Take everything into consideration - production, expected contract value, & age. Who is the most important to get re-signed?

Of the 3 I would have to say the most expendable is, as much as I hate to say it, Mathis. We've got to stop keeping and over-paying players who excel in one area and are a liability in the other (as Freeney and Mathis both excel as pass rushers but are usually liabilities against the run). I certainly wouldn't mind keeping him around as a situational pass rusher but I doubt there's anyway he'd stay on only getting paid as a situational pass rusher and sadly they will probably pay him as if he were an every down DE.

[Jason_]

I was wondering that same thing. I am a huge Brackett fan and I have long thought (and stated) that he is under-rated; that being said when I watched the texans game on gamerewind, Brackett did not look good. He was slow dropping into his zones on several running plays it looked like everyone hit their gap, except Brackett who wasn't even really blocked, but was just shielded by a lineman 5 yards off the LOS. I was going to post some pictures on two plays that were exactly the same and Brackett played each poorly exactly the same way. One lead to a 7 or 8 yard gain and a first down, the 2nd led to a TD.

Brackett would be a great Nickel LB but I don't believe him to be an effective every down MLB.

[jbaron04]

Brackett would be a great Nickel LB but I don't believe him to be an effective every down MLB.

he is 5'10" lol he can bearly see over the line to tell if its a pass or run thats why he gets lost on run plays from time to time

[Jason_]

he is 5'10" lol he can bearly see over the lone to tell if its a pass or run

true lol...which is why I'd like to see a more prototypical MLB that's 6'2" to 6'4" and 240-260 lbs. That's also part of the reason I suggested having him as a nickel lb...then he'd only be in to play the pass so it'd take away the guesswork for him.

However, in the defense of he and other shorter lb's, you can still determine quite a bit just by watching the actions of the oline.

[ColtsLegacy]

he is 5'10" lol he can bearly see over the line to tell if its a pass or run thats why he gets lost on run plays from time to time

I sure hope he's not looking in the backfield to see if it's a run or pass. As a LB, his first key should be the Oline, 95% of the time the line will lead you to the play.

[jbaron04]

I sure hope he's not looking in the backfield to see if it's a run or pass. As a LB, his first key should be the Oline, 95% of the time the line will lead you to the play.

an 95% of the time a line backer first step should be forward but his is back

[Jason_]

an 95% of the time a line backer first step should be forward but his is back

That is one thing I won't blame on Brackett but rather the scheme. That's the difference between the Tampa 2 and the normal Cover 2...the MLB drops back deep with the safeties to essentially become a cover 3 shell. You'll unfortunately see Angerer and Tripplett (if he gets any playing time) doing the same thing.

[Jason_]

I sure hope he's not looking in the backfield to see if it's a run or pass. As a LB, his first key should be the Oline, 95% of the time the line will lead you to the play.

What he said.

[OLD FAN MAN]

he is 5'10" lol he can bearly see over the line to tell if its a pass or run thats why he gets lost on run plays from time to time

we still have "tonys tinys" at lb we need ray lewis dominating lbs to stop the run

[Smitto]

Why do you think Angerer is any faster than Bracket? Bracket is pretty fast too.

Are you serious? i dont even think brackett ran a 40 time.. the guy looks like a pizza delivery guy and have you seen him ever pursuit a player... brackett is over 30 he doesnt look really fit of course Pat is faster than him lol.. Brackett is not fast at all.. not even close.

[Coffeedrinker]

I sure hope he's not looking in the backfield to see if it's a run or pass. As a LB, his first key should be the Oline, 95% of the time the line will lead you to the play.

That's in high school. At this level the keys vary depending on formation, down and distance, tendencies and game situation. Some times his key is the tight end, some times it's one of the guards, the center, a FB, etc. Some times his key is where the hole/gap opens.

[MAC]

Of the 3 I would have to say the most expendable is, as much as I hate to say it, Mathis.

Particularly if Hughes takes ANY kind of step forward. Having two over 30 speed rushing DEs tied up in expensive long-term contracts would not bode well for the future.

[Steagles]

Angerer is a better MLB than Brackett.

Don't prove me wrong, Pat.

I agree, and I see him stepping up and becoming a leader on D during Brackett's abscence.

[MAC]

I was wondering that same thing. I am a huge Brackett fan and I have long thought (and stated) that he is under-rated; that being said when I watched the texans game on gamerewind, Brackett did not look good. He was slow dropping into his zones on several running plays it looked like everyone hit their gap, except Brackett who wasn't even really blocked, but was just shielded by a lineman 5 yards off the LOS. I was going to post some pictures on two plays that were exactly the same and Brackett played each poorly exactly the same way. One lead to a 7 or 8 yard gain and a first down, the 2nd led to a TD.

As a Rutgers guy he is one of my favorites as well, but I would be delighted if Angerer stepped up as a replacement. Having that much money tied up in someone his age at that position is so out of character for the Colts, that you have to think its negatively impacting their other plans.

[chrisfarley]

Angerer is a better MLB than Brackett.

Don't prove me wrong, Pat.

If you've watched angerer over last two years, he has some major deficiencies, but he's playing around stute fishes so it masks it. I still think he could be good but time will tell. Had a lot of tackles last game I realize, but don't get memorized by it.

[Jason_]

If you've watched angerer over last two years, he has some major deficiencies, but he's playing around stute fishes so it masks it. I still think he could be good but time will tell. Had a lot of tackles last game I realize, but don't get memorized by it.

what kind of deficiencies? I'm just wondering if it's due to his ability or lack thereof or more due to the scheme. I say this because one issue that's been brought up with brackett is how he's always backpeddaling at the beginning of the play. While I am not a fan of brackett's this is one thing I don't blame him for but rather the scheme because the tampa 2 usually has the MLB drop back into deep coverage with the safeties. This is something I've seen Angerer do as well so I'd attribute that to the scheme and not brackett/angerer.

[Smitto]

what kind of deficiencies? I'm just wondering if it's due to his ability or lack thereof or more due to the scheme. I say this because one issue that's been brought up with brackett is how he's always backpeddaling at the beginning of the play. While I am not a fan of brackett's this is one thing I don't blame him for but rather the scheme because the tampa 2 usually has the MLB drop back into deep coverage with the safeties. This is something I've seen Angerer do as well so I'd attribute that to the scheme and not brackett/angerer.

Its definitely the scheme cause they dont always back peddle, i cant really think of any decencies myself the guy is a solid player and with time he will only get better.

[Balzer40]

If you've watched angerer over last two years, he has some major deficiencies, but he's playing around stute fishes so it masks it. I still think he could be good but time will tell. Had a lot of tackles last game I realize, but don't get memorized by it.

The only reason that true is because this is only his 3rd yr. and he has been learning. IMO Angerer has already passed up Brackett in terms of talent. Angerer is a better tackler and is better in coverage. This will more than likely be Bracketts last yr. with the Colts.

[oldunclemark]

I think garcon is in for a big day...

Teams scan last week's tape..In 2nd/3rd and long...the Browns will; 'help' on Reggie..

..and you didnt see Collins' arm strength last week....(although there's plenty of tape on him)

.../I think PGC can get deep ..and the Browns obviously dont have the edge pass rushers Houston did,.

Colts by 10.