WESTFIELD, Ind. —Today was Day 1 of the Indianapolis Colts' 2018 training camp practices at Grand Park Sports Campus in Westfield, Ind.
Here were some of the top takeaways from the day's session:
OFFENSE
— Today's practice featured the much-anticipated return of quarterback Andrew Luck to a full practice setting, and, as expected, he had many positive results mixed in with plenty of teachable moments throughout the day. In all, counting both 11-on-11 and 7-on-7 drills, Luck completed a combined 11-of-19 passes (57.9 percent) with one interception. The large crowd in the stands at Grand Park, of course, was watching Luck's every move, and let out loud cheers when No. 12 even made his first warmup throw of the day.
— Luck looked his best during an early portion of 11-on-11s, when he got the defense to bite hard on a playaction with running back Josh Ferguson and found tight end Eric Ebron wide open along the left side of the field for a sizable (20 to 25-yard) gain. Then, on the very next play, Luck drew the defense offsides.
— With Anthony Castonzo (left tackle) and Austin Howard (right tackle) each placed on the Active/Non-Football Injury list to begin camp, the Colts mixed things up a little bit along the edges up front, putting veteran Jack Mewhort at left tackle and Denzelle Good at right tackle with the first-team offense. Mewhort has been primarily a guard the last few years, but he does have some experience at tackle; Good, meanwhile, had moved around at both left and right tackle as needed throughout the offseason program.
— The Colts showed a second-team offensive line look of Tyreek Burwell (left tackle), Mark Glowinski (left guard), Joe Haeg (center), Braden Smith (right guard) and Le'Raven Clark (right tackle).
— Thursday's practice was also the 2018 on-field debut of running back Marlon Mack, who suffered a shoulder injury during camp last year during his rookie season, but played through it the entire year before deciding to undergo surgery after the 2017 regular season finale. Mack, who was wearing a shoulder brace on Thursday, was placed right in with the first-team offense to begin 11-on-11 drills and got a handoff on the very first play of camp, taking it outside to his left and sending safety T.J. Green to the grass with a little bit of physicality after a nice pickup.
— While Mack made his on-field return on Thursday, the Colts continued to mix it up at the running back position throughout the day. All six of the team's running backs — Mack, Josh Ferguson, Nyheim Hines, Christine Michael, Robert Turbin and Jordan Wilkins — were seen getting work here and there, so the depth chart at the position will obviously continue to be a fluid situation.
— Deon Cain continued his strong play from the offseason program into Thursday's first day of training camp practices. First, he made a nice play on a screen pass from quarterback Jacoby Brissett, who found Cain near the line of scrimmage to the left side; Cain took the pass and was able to snake his way through a couple defenders for a nice gain. But perhaps the play of the day was when Cain caught a fade pass from Brissett towards the end of practice. It was a well-thrown ball, but Cain showed off some tremendous body control as he jumped in the air, plucked the pass over the defender and went down to the ground while still holding on to the ball. If the sixth-round pick out of Clemson can keep stacking days like that, he'll undoubtedly be pushing for lots of passes to be thrown his way by the time the regular season rolls around.
(via Andrew Walker/Colts.com)
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DEFENSE
— The Colts showed a first-team defensive look of Jabaal Sheard and Tarell Basham at defensive end; Al Woods and Denico Autry at defensive tackle; Anthony Walker (MIKE) and Tyrell Adams (WILL) at linebacker; Quincy Wilson, Pierre Desir and Kenny Moore II (nickel) at cornerback; and Matthias Farley and T.J. Green at safety.
— The second-team look was John Simon and Anthony Johnson at defensive end; Margus Hunt and Grover Stewart at defensive tackle; Najee Goode, Zaire Franklin and Darius Leonard at linebacker; Nate Hairston, D.J. White and Chris Milton at cornerback; and Shamarko Thomas and George Odum on safety.
— The cornerback lineup was very fluid. The biggest takeaway was moving Wilson, Desir, Moore and Hairston around. The four of them took turns with the first team, with Moore and Hairston the primary nickels. Desir and Wilson would occasionally sub out so Hairston and Moore could see snaps outside.
— They did mostly sub-package, but Goode appeared to be the third linebacker aside from Walker and Adams in base defense.
— The defensive line got a lot of penetration early in the 11-on-11s. Example, Autry was in the backfield at the time of the handoff on the first play.
— McCain and Simon had a couple of really good pass-rush reps in 11-on-11 that would've been sacks.
— Autry was very active with his hands, getting his hands into the passing lanes. He batted at least one Luck pass.
— Rookie linebacker Matthew Adams had a nice, diving pass breakup about 25 yards downfield.
— One of the plays of the day was rookie linebacker Leonard's leaping interception off of Luck. It was about 20 yards downfield, intended for Erik Swoope, who had nothing but green grass ahead of him had he caught it. Leonard also really showed his range, once striding with Nyheim Hines to the sideline on a screen where Hines would have been supposed to turn it upfield at the sideline.
— The cornerbacks were very active with the ball in the air. Hands all over in pass breakups.
— Defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus led the linebacker position drills. Overall, it was an energetic group who hit each other hard in bag drills. Walker and Leonard both moved very well, very smooth. Caught the ball well.
(via Jake Arthur/Colts.com)
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SPECIAL TEAMS
— Adam Vinatieri was kicking comfortably, with plenty of leg from 50-plus yards. He eventually missed from around 60 yards.
— Kickoff returners were (in order): Nyheim Hines, Marlon Mack and Josh Ferguson.
— Rigoberto Sanchez and Michael Badgley took turns simulating kickoffs.
(via Jake Arthur/Colts.com)
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TWEET OF THE DAY
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CAMP SCHEDULE
Friday, July 27 | Colts City, 12:00 – 4:00 PM | Practice, 1:30 – 3:30 PM
Saturday, July 28 | Kids Day, presented by Riley Children's Health | Colts City, 12:00 – 4:00 PM | Practice, 1:30 – 3:30 PM
Sunday, July 29 | BBQ Bash Night, presented by City Barbeque | Colts City, 5:00 – 9:00 PM | Practice, 7:00 – 9:15 PM
Tuesday, July 31 | Colts City, 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM | Practice, 9:00 – 11:00 AM
Wednesday, Aug. 1 | Colts City, 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM | Practice, 9:00 – 11:00 AM
Thursday, Aug. 2 | Colts City, 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM | Practice, 9:00 – 11:00 AM
Friday, Aug. 3 | Friday Night Lights | Colts City, 5:00 – 9:00 PM | Practice, 7:00 -9:15 PM
Sunday, Aug. 5 | Community Day | Colts City, 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM | Practice, 9:00 – 11:00 AM
Monday, Aug. 6 | Colts City, 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM | Practice, 9:00 – 11:00 AM
Tuesday, Aug. 7 | Colts City, 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM | Practice, 9:00 – 11:00 AM
Saturday, Aug. 11 | Armed Forces Day | Colts City, 2:00 – 5:00 PM | Practice, 3:40 – 5:20 PM
Sunday, Aug. 12 | Colts City, 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM | Practice, 9:00 – 11:00 AM
Monday, Aug. 13 | Colts City, 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM | Practice, 9:00 – 11:00 AM
Tuesday, Aug. 14 | Final Night Practice | Colts City, 5:00 – 9:00 PM | Practice, 7:00 – 9:15 PM
Thursday, Aug. 16 | Colts City, 12:00 – 4:00 PM | Practice, 1:30 – 3:15 PM
Friday, Aug. 17 | Colts City, 12:00 – 4:00 PM | Practice, 1:30 – 3:30 PM
Saturday, Aug. 18 | Bike to Camp Day, presented by Meijer | Colts City, 12:00 – 4:00 PM | Practice, 1:30 – 3:30 PM
