Zak Keefer says locker room not good

[2006Coltsbestever]

20 minutes ago, NewColtsFan said:

Perhaps you’ve been posting this in various threads and I’ve missed all of them.    But I’m completely shocked by this post.   
 

“The entire reason for the change.”

 

Honestly, I think there was very little connection to the change.   
 

And the Colts literally announced it.   They said Ryan isn’t coming back for any reason, even if he gets healthy.   Even if he could be the difference between getting into the playoffs and not. 
 

Why?

 

Because the team has decided Ryan isn’t the guy in 2023, and they’re not taking any chance Ryan could get hurt late in the season.  That might lead to him not passing a physical in March which would mean about $30 million guaranteed in 23.   Imagine Ryan eating up $30 million of salary cap next year NOT to be on the team?    I saw this written everywhere.  
 

So to me, this is the number one reason: protect the salary cap of 2023.  And along the way let’s find out if Sam is any good?   Possible future starter?   Future QB2?

 

And yet you didn’t acknowledge any of that?!?   I confess I didn’t see that coming. 
 

Again, you may have elaborated already on this and I missed that.   I’m reading less here these days.   But it’s rare for us to have views that are 180 degrees off.   And it feels like that’s where we are.  
 

Hope you noted all of my comments as respectful and not in any other way.

Unfortunately I have already accepted it and hope Sam does well.

[Superman]

7 minutes ago, NewColtsFan said:

Perhaps you’ve been posting this in various threads and I’ve missed all of them.    But I’m completely shocked by this post.   
 

“The entire reason for the change.”

 

Honestly, I think there was very little connection to the change.   
 

And the Colts literally announced it.   They said Ryan isn’t coming back for any reason, even if he gets healthy.   Even if he could be the difference between getting into the playoffs and not. 
 

Why?

 

Because the team has decided Ryan isn’t the guy in 2023, and they’re not taking any chance Ryan could get hurt late in the season.  That might lead to him not passing a physical in March which would mean about $30 million guaranteed in 23.   Imagine Ryan eating up $30 million of salary cap next year NOT to be on the team?    I saw this written everywhere.  
 

So to me, this is the number one reason: protect the salary cap of 2023.  And along the way let’s find out if Sam is any good?   Possible future starter?   Future QB2?

 

And yet you didn’t acknowledge any of that?!?   I confess I didn’t see that coming. 
 

Again, you may have elaborated already on this and I missed that.   I’m reading less here these days.   But it’s rare for us to have views that are 180 degrees off.   And it feels like that’s where we are.  
 

Hope you noted all of my comments as respectful and not in any other way.

 

I don't disagree with your line of reasoning here, and while there's a lot of common speculation, much of that is probably true, and has been discussed plenty. I just don't think it's relevant to this particular arm of the discussion.

 

Why? Because if Matt Ryan was playing well, none of this would be at issue. The Colts expected him to be their guy through at least 2023. 

 

The bottom line reason any of this is in question boils down to the simple fact that he was not playing well. And it wasn't 'we can get by with him, let's just keep moving forward.' He leads the NFL in turnovers, and he wasn't producing any big plays to make up for it. We had the worst (?) scoring offense in the league. We've trailed going into the 4th quarter of every game this season, and we're only giving up 19 points/game. 

 

It's absolutely true that it's not all Ryan's fault that the offense has been bad. But he shares a considerable portion of the blame, and that's undeniable.

 

So after we play an ugly offensive game in Week 6, can't score for most of the game, they considered benching him at that point. Then he struggled mightily the next week, and got battered by the defense. The staff decided it was time to make the move. The injury situation is a factor, the contract is a factor, etc. But none of that would even be on the table if he was playing well.

 

They didn't bench him because they think the season is over, they're just going to reset in the offseason, and want to make sure they don't get caught holding the bag. They benched him for performance, and all the rest of it is secondary, at best.

[Goatface Killah]

1 hour ago, jvan1973 said:

Have you ever been in a locker room. Or any room with those mentioned above??

He aparently never heard Ray Lewis or Brian Dawkins or countless other players give pre game speeches.

 

The best NFL players are driven by one thing, competition. They would play for free. 

[SOMDColtsfan]

7 hours ago, Superman said:

 

I don't see how player compensation has anything to do with the mood of the locker room right now. What am I missing there?

My point is this front office takes care of their own first. Which maybe I'm wrong but for me that would make me want to perform to the best of my abilities, professional athlete or just a blue collar guy like myself. Which these players have not Which was my point on maybe there is more to it than we know. Coaching? Reich has won with less. Talent? Maybe not loaded but there are current former All Pro's still on the roster. Why is the mood in locker room "not good"? Ryan was getting hammered and nobody was stepping up, week after week after week.

[NewColtsFan]

18 minutes ago, Superman said:

 

I don't disagree with your line of reasoning here, and while there's a lot of common speculation, much of that is probably true, and has been discussed plenty. I just don't think it's relevant to this particular arm of the discussion.

 

Why? Because if Matt Ryan was playing well, none of this would be at issue. The Colts expected him to be their guy through at least 2023. 

 

The bottom line reason any of this is in question boils down to the simple fact that he was not playing well. And it wasn't 'we can get by with him, let's just keep moving forward.' He leads the NFL in turnovers, and he wasn't producing any big plays to make up for it. We had the worst (?) scoring offense in the league. We've trailed going into the 4th quarter of every game this season, and we're only giving up 19 points/game. 

 

It's absolutely true that it's not all Ryan's fault that the offense has been bad. But he shares a considerable portion of the blame, and that's undeniable.

 

So after we play an ugly offensive game in Week 6, can't score for most of the game, they considered benching him at that point. Then he struggled mightily the next week, and got battered by the defense. The staff decided it was time to make the move. The injury situation is a factor, the contract is a factor, etc. But none of that would even be on the table if he was playing well.

 

They didn't bench him because they think the season is over, they're just going to reset in the offseason, and want to make sure they don't get caught holding the bag. They benched him for performance, and all the rest of it is secondary, at best.

I’d simply respond this way…..   if what you say is true,  then the decision to trade for Matt Ryan, the raving about how great he was all off-season, and now the decision to bench him FOR GOOD so we can see what we have with Sam….  All that, is one of the worst series of decisions that I can recall about the quarterback position.   Complete and total failure.    And there would be for me NO REASON to ever have trust that the duo of Reich and Ballard can finally figure out the position.   Why should anyone think they can? 
 

To be clear,  I’m in the camp that believes the number one reason the offense stinks is the O-line, not the quarterback.   But it’s easier to try and use a new QB than try to fix an entire OL on the fly.  In short, your view makes me say they’ve scape goated Ryan because it’s easier, not because it’s wiser.   I’m not trying to absolve Ryan of responsibility, he’s been a huge disappointment.  But I think much came from the atrocious play of the OL in front of him.   As Frank admitted, “we didn’t hold up our end of the bargain.”

 

This week, Reich said he still has faith in Strausser.   We’ll find out if it’s true in January when the season is over.   But I’d add this….   If Strausser isn’t to blame for the terrible OL performance, someone sure is, and the only other candidate would be….   Chris Ballard.   

[NewColtsFan]

3 minutes ago, SOMDColtsfan said:

My point is this front office takes care of their own first. Which maybe I'm wrong but for me that would make me want to perform to the best of my abilities, professional athlete or just a blue collar guy like myself. Which these players have not Which was my point on maybe there is more to it than we know. Coaching? Reich has won with less. Talent? Maybe not loaded but there are current former All Pro's still on the roster. Why is the mood in locker room "not good"? Ryan was getting hammered and nobody was stepping up, week after week after week.

The mood is not good because the team is badly under-achieving.  The team failed Matt Ryan.   The offense is a disaster.   A team that was recently favored to win their division now looks like a long shot to make the playoffs. 
 

Why would this be a happy locker room? 

[SOMDColtsfan]

31 minutes ago, Superman said:

 

I don't disagree with your line of reasoning here, and while there's a lot of common speculation, much of that is probably true, and has been discussed plenty. I just don't think it's relevant to this particular arm of the discussion.

 

Why? Because if Matt Ryan was playing well, none of this would be at issue. The Colts expected him to be their guy through at least 2023. 

 

The bottom line reason any of this is in question boils down to the simple fact that he was not playing well. And it wasn't 'we can get by with him, let's just keep moving forward.' He leads the NFL in turnovers, and he wasn't producing any big plays to make up for it. We had the worst (?) scoring offense in the league. We've trailed going into the 4th quarter of every game this season, and we're only giving up 19 points/game. 

 

It's absolutely true that it's not all Ryan's fault that the offense has been bad. But he shares a considerable portion of the blame, and that's undeniable.

 

So after we play an ugly offensive game in Week 6, can't score for most of the game, they considered benching him at that point. Then he struggled mightily the next week, and got battered by the defense. The staff decided it was time to make the move. The injury situation is a factor, the contract is a factor, etc. But none of that would even be on the table if he was playing well.

 

They didn't bench him because they think the season is over, they're just going to reset in the offseason, and want to make sure they don't get caught holding the bag. They benched him for performance, and all the rest of it is secondary, at best.

I guess everybody outside of the Colts locker room sees it but the players themselves? And according to the OP the mood isn't good because he was benched after only 7 games? Nothing adds up

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

1 hour ago, NewColtsFan said:

I think most everyone thought the same thing a year ago when the Colts started the season 1-4.    I don’t think anyone saw a stretch of 8-2 coming that had the Colts at 9-6.   
 

We were getting better and despite losing we were for the most part scoring points.

[SOMDColtsfan]

2 minutes ago, NewColtsFan said:

The mood is not good because the team is badly under-achieving.  The team failed Matt Ryan.   The offense is a disaster.   A team that was recently favored to win their division now looks like a long shot to make the playoffs. 
 

Why would this be a happy locker room? 

Totally agree and understand that. But high character guys should have the guts to rise to the occasion and they look like they've just laid down. Starts with attitude

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

I think players being shocked is being taken the wrong way. Maybe they were shocked because they were so bad they had to change QB. Not that Ryan should not of been benched. More like shocked we are playing that bad.

Just now, SOMDColtsfan said:

Totally agree and understand that. But high character guys should have the guts to rise to the occasion and they look like they've just laid down. Starts with attitude

They played hard last week. That didn’t look like a team that just laid down.

[crazycolt1]

1 hour ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

Sometimes it takes a while to figure things out. We could have possibly got to lets say 5-5-1 with the schedule we have, then Taylor and Leonard get completely healthy and the O.Line starts to Jell. We didn't even try with Matt. 

 

Almost everyone in here had high expectations for this team, looking at past posts and polls, most had us at 11 wins, 10 at worse and winning the AFC South. So I wasn't the only one. Vegas and most of ESPN and us winning the AFC South as well.

With all due respect this offensive line is not going to "jell". Sam at least has the mobility to make plays and not stand there like a statue. 

[2006Coltsbestever]

8 minutes ago, NewColtsFan said:

I’d simply respond this way…..   if what you say is true,  then the decision to trade for Matt Ryan, the raving about how great he was all off-season, and now the decision to bench him FOR GOOD so we can see what we have with Sam….  All that, is one of the worst series of decisions that I can recall about the quarterback position.   Complete and total failure.    And there would be for me NO REASON to ever have trust that the duo of Reich and Ballard can finally figure out the position.   Why should anyone think they can? 
 

To be clear,  I’m in the camp that believes the number one reason the offense stinks is the O-line, not the quarterback.   But it’s easier to try and use a new QB than try to fix an entire OL on the fly.  In short, your view makes me say they’ve scape goated Ryan because it’s easier, not because it’s wiser.   I’m not trying to absolve Ryan of responsibility, he’s been a huge disappointment.  But I think much came from the atrocious play of the OL in front of him.   As Frank admitted, “we didn’t hold up our end of the bargain.”

 

This week, Reich said he still has faith in Strausser.   We’ll find out if it’s true in January when the season is over.   But I’d add this….   If Strausser isn’t to blame for the terrible OL performance, someone sure is, and the only other candidate would be….   Chris Ballard.   

To your first paragraph, you nailed it. I don't trust them now and I am Mr positive to most in here. It is just a bad look with what they have done. Had we been 1-6-1 or maybe even 2-5-1 and Matt just looked washed, I could understand it. At 3-3-1 and his comebacks in the 4th and OT was enough for me anyway to say lets let this ride out a little while longer. I understand he was injured last week, so I was ok with Sam playing last week but to bench Matt for the whole season, has me doing this 

[NewColtsFan]

11 minutes ago, SOMDColtsfan said:

Totally agree and understand that. But high character guys should have the guts to rise to the occasion and they look like they've just laid down. Starts with attitude

They’ve laid down?

 

Sorry, I haven’t seen that at all.   And I’ve been blasting players, coaches and front office at every opportunity.   
 

But I’ve seen no evidence of laying down.  

[Defjamz26]

22 minutes ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

To your first paragraph, you nailed it. I don't trust them now and I am Mr positive to most in here. It is just a bad look with what they have done. Had we been 1-6-1 or maybe even 2-5-1 and Matt just looked washed, I could understand it. At 3-3-1 and his comebacks in the 4th and OT was enough for me anyway to say lets let this ride out a little while longer. I understand he was injured last week, so I was ok with Sam playing last week but to bench Matt for the whole season, has me doing this 

When you really look at the whole time line of events, you see how awful the Colts handled the situation:

 

-OL was bad last year, and you let Glowinski walk

-Sign a past his prime IMMOBILE QB to be your starter and give him more money

-Do nothing through FA or the draft (outside of getting a raw 3rd round LT) to improve an already bad OL

-Start that same past his prime IMMOBILE QB behind an even worse OL

 

And then you arrive where we currently are. 8 games in and you’ve benched your overpaid QB who you hyped up all off-season when you had playoff aspirations. You paid a guy a bunch of money to pull the plug on him after 7 games because you didn’t think a guy who was already past his prime and was behind an awful line was playing well enough. While Matt’s turnovers and overall play weren’t good, one must ask:

 

What did they think was going to happen? 

[2006Coltsbestever]

12 minutes ago, Defjamz26 said:

When you really look at the whole time line of events, you see how awful the Colts handled the situation:

 

-OL was bad last year, and you let Glowinski walk

-Sign a past his prime IMMOBILE QB to be your starter and give him more money

-Do nothing through FA or the draft (outside of getting a raw 3rd round LT) to improve an already bad OL

-Start that same past his prime IMMOBILE QB behind an even worse OL

 

And then you arrive where we currently are. 8 games in and you’ve benched your overpaid QB who you hyped up all off-season when you had playoff aspirations. You paid a guy a bunch of money to pull the plug on him after 7 games because you didn’t think a guy who was already past his prime and was behind an awful line was playing well enough. While Matt’s turnovers and overall play weren’t good, one must ask:

 

What did they think was going to happen? 

I would just never say, our QB is out for the whole year after hyping him up. Matt is who Irsay wanted. Reich said he was Peyton like leadership wise. Just a weird situation. Matt's turn overs were awful but all in all his comeback wins and being at 3-3-1 in a league that has many .500 teams is something you can't quit on. It is like our FO forgot what they were preaching 2 weeks ago. To say so and so is our guy/QB 1 day then a day later say good riddance is lame.

 

The really sad thing about this is, Matt Ryan hasn't complained once publicly or threw anyone under the bus. He is a class act and a leader. We should make him our OC  - joking but not a bad idea 

[SOMDColtsfan]

9 minutes ago, NewColtsFan said:

They’ve laid down?

 

Sorry, I haven’t seen that at all.   And I’ve been blasting players, coaches and front office at every opportunity.   
 

But I’ve seen no evidence of laying down.  

I stated it looks like. The OP doesn't state who/what. I know Ryan Kelly made his views somewhat obvious about Ryan being benched and then this mood of locker room came out. Then Hines after getting traded. Mood to me meant a lost locker room, maybe I'm wrong for thinking that and they are 2 different things  

[LaundryBag]

No crap!!! how should it be?

 

Ballard: This is team meeting glad everyone is here in the conference room.

Who wants to bed traded???

 

 

Ballard: Oh SH**!!! 

I got some thinking to do... 

 

LOL kidding 

[2006Coltsbestever]

9 minutes ago, SOMDColtsfan said:

I stated it looks like. The OP doesn't state who/what. I know Ryan Kelly made his views somewhat obvious about Ryan being benched and then this mood of locker room came out. Then Hines after getting traded. Mood to me meant a lost locker room, maybe I'm wrong for thinking that and they are 2 different things  

Ryan Kelly came out and said he thinks Matt Ryan being benched sucks.  . He basically said that. I added the sucks 

[hoosierhawk]

22 hours ago, Goatface Killah said:

Yeah i get that.

 

This is what happens when a coach is in the middle of losing the faith of the team. They start second guessing his decisions and it makes it even harder for that coach to turn it around.

 

Hopefully, Frank can figure it out, but Im pretty skeptical.

Agree 100%. Would not be surprised Reich doesn't make it thru the season, especially if Irsay feels he needs to move on someone prior to season end. Frank lost the locker room prior to this season and I have mentioned that he and Ryan had major differences in play calling early in the year. Started in the first game when he took them down the field and Frank pulled him and put Hines in inside the 5 yd line in the wildcat only to see him fail. Loosing the confidence in your leader ( boss ) contributes to low morale whether you make $15 per hour or $15M per year. We have come out flat to start every game long before this year do to low morale. Teams need leadership irregardless of salaries.

[NewColtsFan]

15 minutes ago, SOMDColtsfan said:

I stated it looks like. The OP doesn't state who/what. I know Ryan Kelly made his views somewhat obvious about Ryan being benched and then this mood of locker room came out. Then Hines after getting traded. Mood to me meant a lost locker room, maybe I'm wrong for thinking that and they are 2 different things  

Ok….   I took the phrase “laying down” to mean on the playing field.   No effort.   Not trying.  
 

Sounds like you’re referring to the locker room mood.   Ok, two different things.   Thanks for clarification.   

[LaundryBag]

2 minutes ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

Ryan Kelly came out and said he thinks Matt Ryan being benched sucks.  . He basically said that. I added the sucks 

Isn't the bigger picture Matt is hurt? How can he play if shoulder is done? That's what I'm reading correct if I'm wrong...

[2006Coltsbestever]

Just now, LaundryBag said:

Isn't the bigger picture Matt is hurt? How can he play if shoulder is done? That's what I'm reading correct if I'm wrong...

Yeah he is injured but moving forward we aren't going to play him either even if healthy.

[Indy87]

Frank lost the locker room and the cracks started vs buffalo in the playoffs. The revolving door at QB only piled on. 

[crazycolt1]

1 minute ago, Indy87 said:

Frank lost the locker room and the cracks started vs buffalo in the playoffs. 

Yeah, right. Lol 

[Indy87]

Just now, crazycolt1 said:

Yeah, right. Lol 

[2006Coltsbestever]

1 minute ago, Indy87 said:

Frank lost the locker room and the cracks started vs buffalo in the playoffs. 

I think Frank was fine and has done a hell of a job with all these different QB's up until the last 2 games last year. Ever since then we haven't recovered. Since being 9-6, we are 3-6-1. 

[LaundryBag]

4 minutes ago, Indy87 said:

Frank lost the locker room and the cracks started vs buffalo in the playoffs. The revolving door at QB only piled on. 

We lost the locker room against Bills? But still in second place of this weak division. This is and will always be a door to who is the next QB. Only difference is this OL can't block. Not against run or pass. Only difference I see from lats year is.

 

Chris Strausser and Kevin Mawae

Is it bigger than not replacing..

Mark Glowinski

Chris Reed- awesome vet

Jack Doyle- Great blocking TE no doubts

Pascal- not so good WR but great blocking WR

 

I think it's different than losing the locker room IMO

[LaundryBag]

28 minutes ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

Yeah he is injured but moving forward we aren't going to play him either even if healthy.

Agreed, he is done as a Colt IMO.. 

[2006Coltsbestever]

Just now, LaundryBag said:

Agreed, he is done as a Colt IMO.. 

It sucks but I have accepted it.

[John Waylon]

4 hours ago, Superman said:

 

Others have offered this suggestion. All I'll say is I don't think there's any evidence supporting it at this point.

 

However, the idea that Covid affected a handful of players late last season seems pretty obvious. 

I mean we need to get to the bottom of his poor play. He’s getting bulldozed around out there and that’s not Nelson. Something has changed and he just isn’t that guy right now. And clearly we could really benefit from him being that guy, and he just got paid to he that guy. 

 

Do you think Nelson would be the kind of guy to ever tell anyone if it was indeed the case? He tried to no-sell the vaccination questions by saying that he valued his privacy. He probably wouldn’t even admit it to his own doctors unless it was something glaringly obvious. 
 

And can you imagine the media %show? “This once former dominant NFL linemen refused to get vaccinated, now he says Covid infection ruined his career”. He would become a key figure that would be pointed to in makIng the case for the vaccine. Not to mention the folks who don’t want the vaccine also don’t want to admit they’re wrong more often than not. 
 

Obviously he’s not bad enough off that he can’t even play, he wouldn’t have to ever admit it even if he is just an average guard now. 
 

I just want to see him playing back at a level that we didn’t have to entertain any kind of hypotheticals like these. 

 

[GoColts8818]

32 minutes ago, Indy87 said:

Frank lost the locker room and the cracks started vs buffalo in the playoffs. The revolving door at QB only piled on. 

I really wonder how people who have never been in the Colts locker room know for a fact what’s going on in it.

[LaundryBag]

4 minutes ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

It sucks but I have accepted it.

It doesn't matter Ryan is the better choice than Wentz. This is a different team than what Wentz had last season as OL goes., Wentz is good athleticism no ability to read defense, won't throw to checkdown and won't use middle of field. Wentz isn't smart enough to be NFL starter IMO Arm doesn't seek with his brain. Disaster just like with Washington....

[2006Coltsbestever]

1 minute ago, LaundryBag said:

It doesn't matter Ryan is the better choice than Wentz. This is a different team than what Wentz had last season as OL goes., Wentz is good athleticism no ability to read defense, won't throw to checkdown and won't use middle of field. Wentz isn't smart enough to be NFL starter IMO Arm doesn't seek with his brain. Disaster just like with Washington....

We weren't going anywhere with Wentz, I agree, so why not try to see what the old man had left? Matt gave it a go and had us at 3-3-1 at least. Maybe Sam has some magic in him and gets this team going.

[EastStreet]

3 minutes ago, John Waylon said:

I mean we need to get to the bottom of his poor play. He’s getting bulldozed around out there and that’s not Nelson. Something has changed and he just isn’t that guy right now. And clearly we could really benefit from him being that guy, and he just got paid to he that guy. 

 

Do you think Nelson would be the kind of guy to ever tell anyone if it was indeed the case? He tried to no-sell the vaccination questions by saying that he valued his privacy. He probably wouldn’t even admit it to his own doctors unless it was something glaringly obvious. 
 

And can you imagine the media %show? “This once former dominant NFL linemen refused to get vaccinated, now he says Covid infection ruined his career”. He would become a key figure that would be pointed to in makIng the case for the vaccine. Not to mention the folks who don’t want the vaccine also don’t want to admit they’re wrong more often than not. 
 

Obviously he’s not bad enough off that he can’t even play, he wouldn’t have to ever admit it even if he is just an average guard now. 
 

I just want to see him playing back at a level that we didn’t have to entertain any kind of hypotheticals like these. 

 

 

Highly doubt covid ruined Nelson. That's a total reach. Nelson had several injuries (foot, back, etc. ) last year. 

And we know now that vax didn't help near as much with transmission as advertised.  

If anything, the most likely issue or issues, is either injury (like long term back issue), OL scheme or coaching, overall combined OL talent decrease, or unhappiness... 

[NewColtsFan]

47 minutes ago, Indy87 said:

Frank lost the locker room and the cracks started vs buffalo in the playoffs. The revolving door at QB only piled on. 

It started in the playoff loss vs Buffalo?!?

 

Huh?    What the heck?!?

 

Wow….   Where does this come from?!? 
 

[LaundryBag]

3 minutes ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

We weren't going anywhere with Wentz, I agree, so why not try to see what the old man had left? Matt gave it a go and had us at 3-3-1 at least. Maybe Sam has some magic in him and gets this team going.

Matt is hurt bud

[jvan1973]

31 minutes ago, John Waylon said:

I mean we need to get to the bottom of his poor play. He’s getting bulldozed around out there and that’s not Nelson. Something has changed and he just isn’t that guy right now. And clearly we could really benefit from him being that guy, and he just got paid to he that guy. 

 

Do you think Nelson would be the kind of guy to ever tell anyone if it was indeed the case? He tried to no-sell the vaccination questions by saying that he valued his privacy. He probably wouldn’t even admit it to his own doctors unless it was something glaringly obvious. 
 

And can you imagine the media %show? “This once former dominant NFL linemen refused to get vaccinated, now he says Covid infection ruined his career”. He would become a key figure that would be pointed to in makIng the case for the vaccine. Not to mention the folks who don’t want the vaccine also don’t want to admit they’re wrong more often than not. 
 

Obviously he’s not bad enough off that he can’t even play, he wouldn’t have to ever admit it even if he is just an average guard now. 
 

I just want to see him playing back at a level that we didn’t have to entertain any kind of hypotheticals like these. 

 

I would imagine if it were covid related the oxygen levels in his blood would be low.    

[hoosierhawk]

8 hours ago, Goatface Killah said:

You are downplaying a Knute Rockne speech but youre ignoring the fact that his speeches are so iconic because they were very inspirational.

 

You dont know what motivates a person, everyone is different.  

 

I watch David Goggins videos on days I dont wanna go to the gym. And I go every single time I do that. It works.

 

 

Vince Lombardi was one of the best and most successful NFL coaches and one of the best motivational speakers of my time. I grew up in sports and then in sales and he was very, very insperational in my success in life although I never met the man in my life buy read every insperational thing I could get my hands on. Winston Churchill was another. People can motivate and some can be motivated but life experience tells me some people can't be motivated at all do to lack of interest. I think we all can recognize these people. 

[AKB]

2 hours ago, Superman said:

 

I don't disagree with your line of reasoning here, and while there's a lot of common speculation, much of that is probably true, and has been discussed plenty. I just don't think it's relevant to this particular arm of the discussion.

 

Why? Because if Matt Ryan was playing well, none of this would be at issue. The Colts expected him to be their guy through at least 2023. 

 

The bottom line reason any of this is in question boils down to the simple fact that he was not playing well. And it wasn't 'we can get by with him, let's just keep moving forward.' He leads the NFL in turnovers, and he wasn't producing any big plays to make up for it. We had the worst (?) scoring offense in the league. We've trailed going into the 4th quarter of every game this season, and we're only giving up 19 points/game. 

 

It's absolutely true that it's not all Ryan's fault that the offense has been bad. But he shares a considerable portion of the blame, and that's undeniable.

 

So after we play an ugly offensive game in Week 6, can't score for most of the game, they considered benching him at that point. Then he struggled mightily the next week, and got battered by the defense. The staff decided it was time to make the move. The injury situation is a factor, the contract is a factor, etc. But none of that would even be on the table if he was playing well.

 

They didn't bench him because they think the season is over, they're just going to reset in the offseason, and want to make sure they don't get caught holding the bag. They benched him for performance, and all the rest of it is secondary, at best.

 

 

well yeah everything you're saying is fine... he didn't play well. we know that. 

 

they still benched him due to his guranteed in contract. or at least, that's a considerable portion of their reasoning, and outside of his awful turnover margin, that's the most clear aspect of it all.

 

they don't want to pay him next year. 

[jimmy g]

4 hours ago, jvan1973 said:

You apparently didn't play high school football.    We watched film on every team we played and played most of them every year.    

I played football in the 60s, when there was no film to watch…..