WESTFIELD, Ind. — Today was Day 5 of the Indianapolis Colts' 2018 training camp practices at Grand Park Sports Campus in Westfield, Ind.
Here were some top takeaways from the day's session:
OFFENSE
— With today's practice being moved indoors due to wet, rainy conditions outside, quarterback Andrew Luck put in another quality day of work. With what seemed to be a more concerted effort to throw the ball down the field, Luck completed 21-of-30 passes in 11-on-11 and 7-on-7 work, tossing one touchdown to tight end Eric Ebron from about five-yards out, while also throwing an interception.
— Luck seemed to have pretty much every throw at his disposal on Tuesday. Some tosses he didn't hesitate to pull the trigger and let loose; others required much more arc and touch to get them over the defense. A couple of his incompletions were near-misses on what would've been big plays down the field (probably in the 30 to 40-yard range at least). One to wide receiver Ryan Grant was a bullet, and Grant, in traffic nearly held on for a nice grab before cornerback Quincy Wilson came in to knock it out at the last second. Another near-miss was on a go route to running back Nyheim Hines, who was lined up wide on the left side; Luck just overthrew him, and an all-out diving attempt by Hines saw the ball hit off his fingertips.
— Austin Howard was just activated from the Active/Non-Football Injury list prior to Tuesday's practice, and the Colts didn't hesitate to throw him right in at right tackle with the first-team offense, where he was found most of the offseason workout program; that moved Denzelle Good over to left tackle on Tuesday, though he did seem to suffer some sort of injury during the session. We also saw Joe Haeg get a little bit of work at right tackle with the first team today, and Howard had some work with the second-team line that consisted of Le'Raven Clark (left tackle), Mark Glowinski (left guard), Haeg (center), Braden Smith (right guard) and Howard (right tackle).
— Also seeing some work with the second-team at right tackle on Tuesday was veteran J'Marcus Webb, who was just signed last night. Webb didn't play last season, but he has 80 career games played with 64 starts to his credit.
— The Colts' coaching staff threw in a couple newer elements in today's practice. In the first 11-on-11, it was a no-huddle, two-minute drill-type of approach (Luck completed 4-of-5 passes and moved the ball down the field). In the second round of 11-on-11s, it was the same thing, only the music on the speakers was cranked up to take out some of the comfortability the players have enjoyed the first few days when it came to communicating with their coaches and teammates (Luck was 3-of-4 during that session).
— T.Y. Hilton and Eric Ebron had standout performances on Tuesday. Hilton was putting on a clinic against the defense, getting open over the top and/or making tough catches in heavy traffic. Ebron, meanwhile, was catching the ball all over the field. On one play in particular, he rose up over his defender, two-handed the ball at its highest point and came down with the reception, letting out a fierce yell and spinning the ball on the turf (see photo above). On another play, Luck looked off two defenders to his right before finding Ebron sprinting across the field and connecting with his new tight end for a first down.
— Luck had a quality day, but the one throw he'd want back was his interception — his second of training camp so far. It's unsure if he had a miscommunication with a wide receiver or if he just simply overthrew him, but Farley was basically all alone deep in the middle of the field to make the play.
— There was another interception during 11-on-11 action, but this one wasn't on the quarterback. Jacoby Brissett fired a pass to wide receiver James Wright, but the ball squirted out of his hands and straight into the possession of safety Ronald Martin. How'd Brissett respond? On the very next play, he threw an absolute missile right into the chest of wide receiver Kasen Williams, who made a falling grab along the right sideline.
— The Colts on Tuesday continued to show how versatile Hines will be for this offense. He was lined up all over the field, and the team used a ton of pre-snap motion in an attempt to distract the defense; oftentimes, Hines would be one of two running backs used in the formation at one time. Hines also showed off in pass protection in one play, tossing his defender to the turf and drawing kudos from his offensive teammates behind him.
— The Indy offense also could very well be featuring some productive three tight end sets this season. We saw that during 7-on-7 work today, as Jack Doyle and Erik Swoope lined up on the left side of the would-be offensive line, and Ebron lined up on the right side.
— During 1-on-1 offensive vs. defensive line drills, offensive line coach Dave DeGuglielmo is not shy about coaching and correcting mistakes — even after the offense wins the rep.
— On one of these reps, rookie guard Quenton Nelson got bent back a little bit and was buckled, but still was stout enough in his base to win the rep after straightening up. It was a play you don't see the offensive lineman win in that scenario very often.
(via Andrew Walker/Colts.com)
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DEFENSE
— This was the Colts' third consecutive padded practice, which means more hitting. There was some live tackling drills, and some where the defender wrapped the receiver/ball-carrier up if they didn't tackle them.
— Anthony Walker, who had been working daily with the first-team defense as the MIKE linebacker, was not in attendance on Tuesday. He left Sunday's practice with a groin injury. Defensive end Chris McCain was back after missing the last couple of practices with an ankle injury.
— Today's first-team defense: Jabaal Sheard (DE), Denico Autry (DT), Al Woods (DT), Tarell Basham (DE), Skai Moore (LB), Darius Leonard (LB), Pierre Desir (CB), Quincy Wilson (CB), Kenny Moore (CB/N), T.J. Green (S) and Matthias Farley (S). Najee Goode was in as well on base defense at linebacker, but it's rarely used. The defense is most often in sub packages.
— Today's second-team defense: Margus Hunt (DE), Tyquan Lewis (DT), Grover Stewart (DT), Kemoko Turay (DE), D.J. White (CB), Chris Milton (CB), Nate Hairston (CB/N), Najee Goode (LB), Zaire Franklin (LB), Ronald Martin (S) and George Odum (S).
— Today's third-team defense: John Simon (DE), Anthony Johnson (DT), Rakeem Nunez-Roches (DT), Chris McCain (DE), Antonio Morrison (LB), Tyrell Adams (LB), Robert Jackson (CB), Lashard Durr (CB), Henre' Toliver (CB/N), Shamarko Thomas (S), Chris Cooper (S). We also saw William Ossai and Jeremiah George quite a bit with this unit at linebacker.
— Basham, Turay and Lewis all saw action with the first-team defensive line today. Basham had primarily worked as a first-team defensive end throughout the offseason, but Simon had those reps the past two practices. Turay had a couple of really nice jumps off the line today. One of them, he likely would've forced a fumble against Brissett. Turay was stretched out over offensive tackle Le'Raven Clark and could've slapped Brissett's arm.
— The second-team defensive line got a good amount of pressure on Brissett, forcing him to move around and climb the pocket several times.
— We saw a good amount from the young linebackers today. It was Moore's first time opening up with the first team so far in camp, and he also saw action as the sole linebacker in dime packages. Franklin also had an interception returned for a likely touchdown off of a Brad Kaaya pass in 7-on-7 work.
— I noticed a couple of times cornerback Quincy Wilson lined up against T.Y. Hilton in various sets, including the slot. Could they be having him shadow other team's No. 1 receivers?
— Farley was physical today, making a few nice plays. He had some shoulder checks into guys that sent them to the ground. He also had his aforementioned pick of Luck, and had another leaping pass breakup later on.
— Martin also had a possible pick-six off of a tipped pass. Jackson had a nice pass breakup about 30 or so yards down the left sideline on a pass from Phillip Walker to Daurice Fountain. Cooper had a fumble recovery near the goal line in 11-on-11 drills on what appeared to be a botched exchange between the quarterback and running back.
— During the portion of 1-on-1 offensive line vs. defensive line drills, I counted 15-8 in favor of the offense in reps that were clear wins.
(via Jake Arthur/Colts.com)
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SPECIAL TEAMS
— Kicker Adam Vinatieri was 7-for-8 on field goal attempts. His makes were from 22, 22, 26, 30, 36, 39 and 45, and his miss was from 49. The difference between the indoor and outdoor fields at Grand Park is the use of nets with the yellow field goal posts drawn/taped on it for the inside fields.
— Fielding punts today were Hilton, Hines, Chester Rogers, Grant, Deon Cain and Zach Pascal.
(via Jake Arthur/Colts.com)
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INJURY UPDATE
— Running back Josh Ferguson and tackle Tyreek Burwell missed practice once again on Tuesday. McCain, who had missed the last three days with an ankle injury, returned to action today.
— Head coach Frank Reich confirmed after practice that linebacker Anthony Walker's groin injury could require "a few weeks" for a full recovery. It's unclear as of yet what, if any, injury Good suffered during today's practice, however.
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REMAINING CAMP SCHEDULE
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, 6:15 -8:30 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
