HEAD COACH-JIM CALDWELL (opening comments) * *
"We think we had a good, solid and spirited practice this morning. We got a lot accomplished and we are in preparation for this evening. This evening will be a practice when we are in shells, just shoulder pads on, but we should be able to get quite a bit accomplished. We are in a preparation stage for Philadelphia, although we are doing a wholesale sort of preparatory work. We are doing a small amount getting ready for them. Obviously, at this time of the year, we are a bit more concerned with ourselves than anything else and making sure we are doing things in the right way. But they are a talented team that comes in and presents a lot of problems for you with a veteran quarterback and a good, solid defense. They do everything well. So, obviously we are taking these next couple of days getting ready for them."
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HEAD COACH-JIM CALDWELL (on bringing Josh Thomas back)
"He has always been a solid performer for us. He's a guy who is versatile and has a real good sense of what we do from a defensive standpoint. It won't take him very long to get up to speed in what we are doing and he's kept himself in great shape as well. The big thing is he's a high energy, high effort type of guy who has been able to help us over the years."
HEAD COACH-JIM CALDWELL (on Kelvin Hayden's injury in practice)
"He pulled his hamstring, I'm not sure of the severity of it, but I'll find out a little bit later once he has been evaluated."
HEAD COACH-JIM CALDWELL (on the level of concern for Dallas Clark's health)
"He's been doing well. He was out practicing this morning and looked good. He was out yesterday afternoon as well and he'll be out this evening. He's coming along well."
HEAD COACH-JIM CALDWELL (on if the players are ready to break camp)
"I haven't gotten that indication yet. Typically you can tell, you get that kind of lull, but I think this atmosphere has been productive for us and conductive to winning. The guys believe this is the right thing to do, and when its time to go, we'll go and move our operation back to headquarters. But this has been a good camp so far."
HEAD COACH-JIM CALDWELL (on the starters wanting to play more last game)
"We typically go through a bit of a progress in that sense. We are trying to get them to the point where they have a good sense of the game. But we usually increase the number of reps week-to-week, and this week we'll certainly increase the amount of reps we have for our first unit."
HEAD COACH-JIM CALDWELL (on if the starters played limitedly Friday because of the bad first series)
"In my mind, I'm looking at a situation where we go one series. And if the series is three-and-out, then we go another series. We were hoping to string along a long drive together, but that didn't occur."
HEAD COACH-JIM CALDWELL (on if he had to make a roster move to bring Thomas back)
"We had to release Walter Mendenhall in order to make room for Josh."
HEAD COACH-JIM CALDWELL (on if he senses a bounce in the young players' step when there is a crowd)
"I do. I notice a bit of a bounce this morning, as well. Without any fans around, we had a pretty good bounce. But this evening, when we get a little bit of a crowd, these guys are competitors and love the interaction with the fans. The night practices have always been a lot of fun."
HEAD COACH-JIM CALDWELL (on trying to get S-Melvin Bullitt more playing time)
"Honestly, we never had that discussion because we knew what the situation was at the time, that Bob (Sanders) would not be with us during the early part of preseason. We just didn't know what kind of progress he would make in that regard. But we did know Melvin was going to get quite a bit of playing time. Last year, Melvin played extremely well and played better as the year went on. He obviously is playing with some veteran leadership this year. He does a nice job in terms of getting the defense set and making the right calls. He's also an effective tackler and displays great effort as well."
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QB-PEYTON MANNING (on training camp)
"I've always kind of liked staying here. You don't have to drive to come over to practice. Believe me, I think there's nothing really wrong with a little change up in going to the facility every day, but we need to finish up with a good practice tonight. Really, once we get back, you're still really in training camp mode I think. We need to finish the entire preseason with good practices, have to get healthy, and need to get some good work out of these games."
QB-PEYTON MANNING (on the importance of getting more playing time in preseason)
"Yeah, it would be nice. I mean I think we kind of played a lot less than what we thought we were going to play on Friday. They told us twelve plays and we got six. I think one thing that's important, that I think our coaches realized this after some of the older guys kind of made the point, this is a new starting unit. These are some new guys in there. I think Anthony Gonzalez needs to make a downfield block for Donald Brown. Ryan Lilja needs to high-five Pierre Garcon down the field. Do you know what I mean? There's some different guys playing, and I think they realize that we need to be in there playing together so when we get to the Jacksonville game, we don't get in the huddle and say 'Hey, I haven't really seen you in here before.' So I think it's important. I know we're going to play the majority against Detroit in the third game and probably very little against Cincinnati, so I think this game (vs. Philadelphia) is important to try to get a little flow in there, and sure, it would be nice to score every single play, but at least to get in there and play some together."
QB-PEYTON MANNING (on gelling as a unit during preseason)
"Obviously you'd love to score, but like I said, we'd like to maintain some drives and get some different situations, get some calls, get some checks, and just kind of gel a little bit as a unit, because it's not the same old starters.(Ryan) Lilja hasn't played in a year. He hasn't played with Charlie (Johnson) at left tackle in awhile or maybe ever, for all I know. It's always been Tarik (Glenn) when Lilja was in there probably for the most part. I think it's important that we get some of that timing and rhythm and cohesiveness, I guess, as a unit in these next couple games."
QB-PEYTON MANNING (on preseason time being different than practice time)
"I think, sure. (There's) nothing like being in there, scoring a touchdown. Nobody usually goes and high-fives each other after a touchdown in practice… Like I said, we've got new starters. I've thrown one career pass to Pierre Garcon in a game against Pittsburgh. That's why I was kind of disappointed that they kind of pulled the hook the other night. I kind of wanted to be in there and play and throw some passes to Austin Collie. Hopefully, we can get that done in these next two games."
QB-PEYTON MANNING (on risking an injury in preseason)
"I've never been tackled before? Like I said, I think it's important that we all get in there and play."
QB-PEYTON MANNING (on whether he's seen improvement this week)
"I think we have. I think we've worked hard, and I think we've been situation-specific this week with red zone or coming out on your own goal line or trying to run the clock out at the end of the game. You're always working on those. We'll have a night practice tonight. You're always working on kind of a different situation each day. I think the more times you do it, the better off you're going to be."
QB-PEYTON MANNING (on Ryan Diem wearing former Colts OG-Rick DeMulling's number during practice due to his jersey being back in Indianapolis)
"Hopefully, somebody got a good picture and sends that to DeMulling. He's a great one. He helped us win a lot of games around here. (Ryan) Diem, guess his jersey got misplaced in the one-day practice at Indianapolis in the transition. That was a nice selection by him though, going 64. "
QB-PEYTON MANNING (on if he knew Curtis Painter prior to being drafted)
"I knew Curtis. Curtis came down to our football camp that we have in Louisiana. He came down and served as a counselor. We had this year's Purdue quarterback this past year. Purdue's always sent some players down there for us, so I knew Curtis then. Just living here in Indianapolis you kind of keep up with the Indiana teams, whether it's IU or (you) can't help it, you keep up with Notre Dame, and Purdue. So you follow those guys and you naturally kind of follow the quarterbacks, so I knew who Curtis was. As a young quarterback, this is a tough system to learn. I know Sorgi, Jim experienced the same thing. They throw a lot at you and they're probably not that patient. They want you to learn it and want you to learn it now. If they told it to you one time, they expect you to learn it. He is getting some valuable experience being able to play as much as he did in the first game as he probably will in the second game. Not many guys get to do that, get to play that much. They have to learn more on the sidelines or in the meeting rooms, so I think it's important that he just keeps learning, and I really think the experience is going to be the most valuable teacher."
TE-DALLAS CLARK (on if it is good to be back practicing)
"Absolutely, it's tough being out, especially during camp, anytime really. Watching everyone work and get better is not a fun thing. But it was great to be out there, and I had a lot of fun."
TE-DALLAS CLARK (on the offense needing to play together because of new faces)
"I totally agree. Every year is a new year, every year is new players. We've got guys across the board, offense, even special teams, we haven't played together. There are some new guys, and trying to get Austin (Collie) in there and in the mix, just seeing where we are going to go with different groups or what we can do. The only time you can do that is seeing it in game action and game tempo. You can do a lot of practices, but you don't really get a good feel until you're out there in the games, and I think that is what we need to look at preseason (games) for and using them and taking advantage of it."
DEFENSIVE END-JOSH THOMAS (on how it feels to be back)
"Obviously, it was a different kind of offseason, I wasn't sure what was going to happen. But then you get the phone call, I got it yesterday, and to me it is great. It feels great. I don't want to go anywhere else, so it was nice to get that phone call."
DEFENSIVE END-JOSH THOMAS (on what the Colts said to him in the call)
"'Do you want to play for the Colts?' I said 'Sure.' It was pretty simple. I didn't even have to think about it."
DEFENSIVE END-JOSH THOMAS (on if being back is like riding a bike again)
"You fit right in, but your feet are a little heavy, you're gasping before everybody else, but it's like riding a bike. It's different than years past because we have a new defense, so you have to learn a little more. But as far as what it takes to get it done, it is the same stuff."
DEFENSIVE END-JOSH THOMAS (on coming back at the end of training camp)
"It was good timing. Everyone was like, 'Oh, you held out?' (Laughs) I was trying to get one more day."
DEFENSIVE END-JOSH THOMAS (on if he thinks his role will be the same)
"Right now I expect to compete for a job, and if I get the job, (I'll have) the same role. I've been doing for five years, and it's kind of what I am, and that's cool with me."
DEFENSIVE END-JOSH THOMAS (on if he could play Thursday)
"I think I am, so that will be interesting. But I've been working out and keeping in shape, and it is great to be back."
