Day three notes

[CR91]

https://www.colts.com/news/2018-coltscamp-notebook-day-3-first-day-in-pads

 

OFFENSE

— Andrew Luck Watch: Today was the first scheduled non-throwing practice session for Andrew Luck, who completed 26 of his first 38 passes in 11-on-11 and 7-on-7 work the first two days of camp. Luck was still an active participant for the first portion of today's work, however, as he took part in quarterback drills and handoffs, and then worked on some running plays against against a live defense. Head coach Frank Reich said the expectation is for Luck to return to a full load for tomorrow's practice, which will be his first throwing in full pads since last October, when he briefly attempted to return to the practice field before eventually being shut down for the year.

 

— There was more shuffling along the offensive line today. With would-be starting tackles Anthony Castonzo and Austin Howard out, as well as veteran Jack Mewhort, who had been filling in at left tackle, the team turned to Tyreek Burwell (left tackle) and Denzelle Good (right tackle) to start Saturday's practice. But Burwell quickly suffered an injury, causing the Colts to slide Good over to left tackle and move second-round pick Braden Smith, who had been primarily working as the second-team right guard, over to the first-team right tackle spot. The offense shuffled in lots of other guys throughout the day, such as Mark Glowinski at guard and Le'Raven Clark at tackle.

 

— Running back Marlon Mack seemed to have a strong practice. With his left shoulder still in a brace, Mack didn't seem to shy away from contact at all, even on that side, and he was very physical once he got into an 11-on-11 setting. Mack has been trying to improve as a runner between the tackles, something he learned from Frank Gore in his rookie season last year, and it's obvious he's making strides in that area. On one nice run in particular on Saturday, Mack earned the praise of his running backs coach, Tom Rathman, who gave the second-year back a big chest bump.

— With the team in pads for the first time all year, it was only a matter of time before some tempers flared. And, sure enough, it happened early during 11-on-11s, when defensive tackle Rakeem Nunez-Roches and guard Quenton Nelson got locked up for a few moments and shared some words. Cooler heads prevailed, however, and there seemed to be no other issues.

 

— We also saw the first big play of camp on Saturday, as quarterback Jacoby Brissett reared back and launched a deep pass down the middle to wide receiver Chester Rogers, who hauled in a would-be 60-yard touchdown reception. Rogers had ran past safety Matthias Farley to break open. We've seen a few good plays more in the intermediate range — a couple to Deon Cain and Eric Ebron, specifically — but that was the first long bomb of this year's camp.

 

— The offensive line showed how it can move on a nice screen pass to running back Christine Michael, getting out in front of the back and leading the way for a big gain to the left side of the field.

 

— Nelson was dominant in one-on-one drills against the defensive linemen, barely allowing multiple defenders to gain any ground towards the pocket. When Castonzo referred to the first-round pick Nelson as a "refrigerator," he's not kidding.

 

— T.Y. Hilton had perhaps his best play of camp so far on Saturday, hauling in one of his signature tip-toe catches from Brissett along the left sideline for a sizable gain. Tyquan Lewis was really charging towards Brissett, so he knew he had to get rid of the ball.

 

———————

DEFENSE

— In one positional drill, cornerbacks worked on defending stack routes (often used by offenses to create "illegal" pick plays). The Colts defense has fallen victim to those plays in recent years.

 

— The most commonly used first-team defense appeared to be: John Simon (DE), Denico Autry (DT), Al Woods (DT), Jabaal Sheard (DE), Anthony Walker (LB), Darius Leonard (LB), Quincy Wilson (CB), Pierre Desir (CB), Kenny Moore II (CB/N), Matthias Farley (S), T.J. Green (S)

 

— The most commonly used second-team defense appeared to be: Tarell Basham (DE), Tyquan Lewis (DT), Grover Stewart (DT), Anthony Johnson (DE), Tyrell Adams (LB), Zaire Franklin (LB), Chris Milton (CB), Nate Hairston (CB/N), D.J. White (CB), Chris Cooper (S), Ronald Martin (S)

 

— The most commonly used third-team defense appeared to be: Margus Hunt (DE), Rakeem Nunez-Roches (DT), Tomasi Laulile (DT), Kemoko Turay (DE), Skai Moore (LB), Najee Goode (LB), Robert Jackson (CB), Lashard Durr (CB/N), Henre' Toliver (CB), Shamarko Thomas (S), George Odom (S)

 

— Leonard was the most commonly-used dime linebacker today. In that formation, he is the only linebacker on the field.

 

— Simon looked just as productive in producing pressure from the defensive end spot as he did as an outside linebacker. He had at least two plays that would've been sacks, and another would-be tackle for no gain on a run play. On the very next play, Leonard got into the backfield on a run play for a tackle for loss against rookie running back Jordan Wilkins.

 

— On one play, Simon got to the edge on the outside and Hassan Ridgeway beat rookie guard Quenton Nelson inside, and Simon/Ridgeway met at quarterback Brad Kaaya.

 

— In the early 11-on-11 portions, the defensive pass rush was pretty decent. They often left the quarterbacks without time to get good passes off. In the later 11-on-11s, the defense didn't get as much heat and the quarterbacks had more time to throw.

 

— Hunt beat rookie guard Braden Smith twice while Smith was at right tackle, once in 11-on-11s and the other in 1-on-1 pass rush drills. The rep in 11-on-11s would have been a sack on quarterback Phillip Walker. Both plays were power rushes in which Hunt got leverage against Smith by using his inside arm.

 

— Basham beat offensive tackle Le'Raven Clark with an outside spin move in one-on-ones. Basham spun, got low to the outside shoulder and stumbled a bit, but is was definitely a win. Johnson also got Clark on a kind-of Euro step move later on.

 

— In one-on-ones, Stewart completely overpowered center Joe Haeg and slid him down into the ground, front first. It should be noted that a few players struggled with their footing in this spot on the field at times. Haeg got Stewart back on the next play.

 

— Again in one-on-ones, Autry beat guard Mark Glowinski on a classic dip, rip and bend around the outside corner.

 

— Overall, the coaches mixed personnel together quite a bit in the early 11-on-11s. It looked like the first and second units blended together quite a bit.

 

———————

SPECIAL TEAMS

— Adam Vinatieri went 5-for-9 on kicks today. His long was from 57 yards. His misses were from 35, 44, 53 and 58 yards. It's not uncommon for Vinatieri to start off slow in camp. We all know he's fine once the regular season arrives.

 

— Wide receivers T.Y. Hilton, Ryan Grant, Chester Rogers and Deon Cain fielded punts today. For those wondering about rookie running back Nyheim Hines, he was on the punt coverage team today. He typically is more involved as a kickoff returner than a punt returner.

 

— Green and Milton appeared to get the most reps at gunner on the punt team.

 

———————

INJURY UPDATE

— Running back Josh Ferguson, tackle Jared Machorro, guard/tackle Jack Mewhort, defensive end Chris McCain and tight end Erik Swoope each did not participate in Saturday's practice from the start. General manager Chris Ballard had said earlier that Mewhort and Swoope could each see some time off early as they work their way back from knee issues. McCain, meanwhile, misses his second straight practice with an ankle injury. It's unknown why Ferguson and Machorro did not practice; head coach Frank Reich did not speak to the media on Saturday, so look for an update from Reich on Sunday.

 

— As mentioned previously, tackle Tyreek Burwell seemed to suffer an injury early on in Saturday's practice and didn't return, causing yet another shift along the first-team offensive line. With likely starting tackles Anthony Castonzo and Austin Howard still on the Active/Non-Football Injury (NFI) list, Burwell's injury forced the team to move second-round pick Braden Smith — who is more naturally a guard — over to right tackle with the first team, and Denzelle Good over to left tackle.

 

— Defensive end Anthony Johnson and defensive tackle/end Denico Autry each seemed to get the trainers' attention at various points during Saturday's practice, although both were able to eventually return to action.

[krunk]

Looks like Simon is transitioning just fine

[Introspect]

— On one play, Simon got to the edge on the outside and Hassan Ridgeway beat rookie guard Quenton Nelson inside, and Simon/Ridgeway met at quarterback Brad Kaaya.

 

^^This.... Nelson is a rookie and will get better.... Let's not put undue pressure on the kid by anointing him a Messiah

[Horse Shoe Heaven]

Thanks for the updates!! Much appreciated!!

[Nesjan3]

awesome, TKnight posts the updates as they happen and these little summaries are great for keeping up with camp for people like me who dont have much time!! you guys are the best!

[richard pallo]

Interesting that Haag is getting zero reps at guard or tackle.  Especially surprising with all of the injuries. He appears to be only getting reps at center.   Burwell was getting a lot of work until his injury.  Zaire Franklin looks like he's spending a lot of time with the two's.  I think he's one to keep an eye on.

[richard pallo]

Anyone else notice there are a lot of teams extending their players during camp?  It seems like every day another good player is extended.  The way these OL are getting paid it might be a good idea for Ballard to extend Costanzo now.   It's only going to get more expensive the longer we wait. 

[Crunked]

The Colts in the past have had a history of letting the big dogs wind out there contract before re-signing. The down side for the player they aren't getting the current market avg. per year leading up to the last year. The upside for the player, usually a lot of dough is tied into that last year either by design or by bonuses and stuff getting pushed to the end of the deal with some restructuring along the way. I don't see them going away from that strategy, but you never know. It is a slippery slope though, cause once you do one guy, you kind of open the can of worms. .........#wormhater  lol

[richard pallo]

10 minutes ago, Crunked said:

The Colts in the past have had a history of letting the big dogs wind out there contract before re-signing. The down side for the player they aren't getting the current market avg. per year leading up to the last year. The upside for the player, usually a lot of dough is tied into that last year either by design or by bonuses and stuff getting pushed to the end of the deal with some restructuring along the way. I don't see them going away from that strategy, but you never know. It is a slippery slope though, cause once you do one guy, you kind of open the can of worms. .........#wormhater  lol

New management.  Seems to be the trend with an ever rising salary cap.

[Douzer]

Mathew Adams is not getting reps according to the Defensive summary above. Perhaps it's just an oversight or typo?

[CR91]

20 minutes ago, Douzer said:

Mathew Adams is not getting reps according to the Defensive summary above. Perhaps it's just an oversight or typo?

 

I heard he made a diving breakup. Hes probably mostly getting ST reps

[Defjamz26]

Why is Hairston getting 2nd team reps at nickel behind Kenny Moore?

[stitches]

Also... I didn't see the Darius Leonard interception posted, so here we go:

 

[VaAllDay757]

Finally they're focusing on how to defend stacked formations....indy always got beat on those type of plays

[John Hammonds]

Nice to see the offensive line preparing for the regular season.  With people missing due to injury, they're being forced to play people out of position, and start guys who have no business starting.  The more things change, the more they remain the same.

 

(Ha! ha!  Come on, somebody had to make a #negativenancy post.  I'll volunteer today!)

[Fisticuffs111]

I wonder how Braden Smith is doing. Only thing I've read about him so far is the getting beat twice by Margus Hunt part. 

[ColtsBlueFL]

1 hour ago, John Hammonds said:

Nice to see the offensive line preparing for the regular season.  With people missing due to injury, they're being forced to play people out of position, and start guys who have no business starting.  The more things change, the more they remain the same.

 

(Ha! ha!  Come on, somebody had to make a #negativenancy post.  I'll volunteer today!)

 

While your comment was somewhat tongue in cheek, there is benefit to playing your 2nd and 3rd players in meaningful reps, especially in a whole new scheme (both sides of the ball).

 

Teams that have the least injuries typically have better/best records.  Teams that have injuries but have solid depth (from 'jokers' that can move/play many positions fairly well, or those that received a lot of reps and improved skill to near stating level at their primary position) are also in the playoff hunt.  Teams that drop off significantly with each IR injury suffer.