INDIANAPOLIS —Brian Schottenheimer didn't know a whole lot about Jacoby Brissett when he came to the Indianapolis Colts in a trade with the New England Patriots just before the start of the regular season.
But Schottenheimer, who is in his second season as the Colts' quarterbacks coach, said it didn't take long for Brissett to prove that he's more than capable of leading the offense, whether it's with his pure talent, or with his composure and attitude.
Schottenheimer this week had a bye week chat with reporters. Here are three takeaways from that session:
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• Schottenheimer saw obvious talent when he first started evaluating Brissett when the trade scenario was initially brought up:**
"I'd obviously seen him a little bit. But I didn't know a whole lot about him. Obviously looked at him and looked at some of the film when it was talked about as a possibility. You saw some of the things that you see today. The arm talent. You see the composure playing in a tough game against Houston as a rookie. But again, what he's been able to do and the way he's grown has been fun to watch."
• Brissett's communication skills have allowed the offensive coaches to get him adjusted to the playbook very quickly:
"Week 2 was really pretty small. It's hard to put a number on it, but there was a very, very small package that Chud (Rob Chudzinski) had to choose from. But again, what we tried to do was throw a lot at him early and what he liked. He was great. Part of being in that role is you've got to have a guy that's willing to communicate and say, 'Hey, here's what I like, here's what I'm comfortable with.' Sometimes young players aren't real comfortable saying, 'Here's what I like and here's what I don't like.' But from the get-go, he'd be like, 'Hey, I like this.' That makes it easier for Chud to call. It makes it easier for us. 'Okay, we've got to add to the red zone package or we've got to add the third down.' The fact that he's been willing to communicate is a big part of it. I think he's picking it up pretty quick."
• Brissett has "a confidence in himself" that rubs off on others:
"I love his demeanor; I really do. You don't see him get too high, too low. Every once in a while at practice you'll see him make a bad play and he gets down on himself pretty good. He and I have a great relationship so I'm able to kind of tease him and get him out of it a little bit. I think it comes from him having dealt with adversity, going to Florida and then to transfer to North Carolina State then going to New England. Obviously, he's been well-coached throughout his career. There's a confidence in himself. I think that's what you notice about a young player I he's very confident in his ability and his ability to go out there and do things to help us win. I think that's why he's able to pick himself up. I go back to the San Francisco game. He threw the interception late down in the end zone and made a bad throw. He was able to bounce back from that pretty quickly. When you do that and you've had success, you're able to go back to that in times of trouble."
