Following a Thursday night preseason opener tie, the Indianapolis Colts were back in action indoors during otherwise a soggy late Saturday afternoon—for what was a rather uneventful training camp practice, with the team primarily focusing on end zone work.
I was actually able to attend this one as a credentialed member of the media, so I’ll change the format up a bit:
Colts Stingy Secondary Wins Afternoon
For another training camp practice, it looked like the Colts secondary got the better of the Indianapolis wide receivers, especially with Alec Pierce still out (who we’ll get to in a bit here). That seems to have been a common theme so far this training camp, and when the trio of Sauce Gardner, Charvarius Ward, and Justin Walley are all fully healthy, the Colts project to have one of the best cornerback rooms atop their depth chart in the entire league.
In particular, starting cornerback Justin Walley, who was playing on the outside in place of Ward in this one, had at least a few deflections of note. Oftentimes, Jones was forced to hold the football in the passing pocket until a Colts receiver could finally free up from tight coverage. That may not happen in a real game, where the pass rush will get to him a lot quicker and not let up, likely seeing more ‘coverage sacks.’
That being said, while the Colts secondary did stifle Jones for much of the afternoon, he connected on at least a few touchdowns passes in 11-on-11 red zone work, including to Josh Downs, who came up gingerly after the acrobatic touchdown catch but was able to walk off the field and be attended to by trainers. Downs did later return to practice. Ashton Dulin, Seth McGowan, Laquon Treadwell, and Tyler Warren, who also had an acrobatic dandy, caught the other touchdown receptions from Jones on the afternoon from what I saw.
Both backup quarterbacks Anthony Richardson and Riley Leonard were up-and-down in their own end zone work, but each showed impressive chemistry with Colts wideout Raylen Sharpe, who caught a handful of receiving touchdowns on the afternoon during red zone work from the pair of backup passers.
Colts running back Ulysses Bentley IV also stood out, having made a few nice catches on the afternoon. He continues to have a strong camp and may not be just a player purely practice squad bound as it stands.
From a pass rushing standpoint, 3rd-year edge Laiatu Latu was very active again, recording maybe 2.0 would be sacks that I saw, as well as a handful of other QB pressures on Jones.
Increasingly Out of Commission Colts
Some of it may be some rest for the Colts players who just played on Thursday night, but among the players who did not practice today: linebacker CJ Allen (hamstring), offensive guard Jalen Farmer, wide receiver Anthony Gould, running back DJ Giddens (hamstring), defensive tackle Derrick Nnadi, wide receiver Alec Pierce (ankle/PUP), offensive tackle Nolan Rucci, offensive tackle Luke Tenuta (knee), and cornerback Charvarius Ward (back)
Pierce Doing Light Work Along Sidelines
Speaking of Pierce, the Colts’ lucratively re-signed leading wideout from last season was doing light work along with sidelines with Colts wide receivers coach Reggie Wayne during part of Saturday’s training camp practice.
Pierce still wasn’t jogging or cutting on the ankle, but he was stationary, catching passes from Wayne. It wasn’t just a simple ‘pitch-and-catch’ game though, as Pierce was having to move and contort his body to make acrobatic, athletic catches.
Brian Mason Already Back
Colts special teams coordinator Brian Mason, who tore multiple ligaments in his left knee at the end of Thursday night’s game after a sideline collision with players, was already back on the field with a knee brace.
One special teams item of note was that rookie edge Caden Curry was among the Colts players who took some long snapping reps, likely as emergency options in case long snapper Luke Rhodes were ever to get hurt in a game and be unable to return to the football field. The Colts are rightfully making emergency contingency plans.