BUFFALO – With lightning strikes popping up on the radar around Buffalo on Saturday night, things were looking bleak for a second straight week of Colts football.
The weather eventually cooperated for football and the Colts were able to experience their first live action of 2016.
Here's a notebook look at the Colts getting their preseason slate of games underway in Buffalo.
**With Luck Resting, Colts Evaluate Backup Quarterbacks
**The first sign of Andrew Luck resting on Saturday night came from observing his pre-game workout.
Just past 4:00 p.m. EST on Saturday, Luck took the field at Ralph Wilson Stadium and joined running back Frank Gore.
The duo was under the watchful eye of new strength coach Darren Krein.
After around 30 minutes of work with Krein, the two retreated to the visiting locker room.
En route, Owner Jim Irsay broke the news that Luck's return to game action wouldn't be taking place in Buffalo.
Instead, it will come next week, when the Colts play inside of Lucas Oil Stadium for the first time in 2016.
No Luck on Saturday night meant a lot of Scott Tolzien and Stephen Morris.
The last two seasons Tolzien has thrown one pass in a regular season game, so getting two quarters of action on Saturday night (he finished the game 12-of-23 for 140 yards, leading two touchdown drives) was immense.
"I really do think it's big," Tolzien, who came over in free agency, said after the 19-18 victory for the visitors. "I'm going into my sixth year and I haven't had a ton of playing experience so anytime you can get these game experiences, especially starting an NFL game -- that's huge. You make a mistake in practice or you miss a throw in practice, it's different than having that happen in a game. That's really where you become seasoned in this league. I was lucky to have that experience tonight."
The action for Morris (5-of-9 for 104 yards and a touchdown, in two quarters of action) was arguably even more important.
With Luck likely to play around a quarter next week (and even more the following week), Morris saw the second most playing time he's going to get this preseason.
"I was really excited we got to play first of all," Morris said, alluding to the Hall of Game being cancelled. "Last week was frustrating for all of us.
"I was happy to go out there tonight, rain or shine, and just put some film on."
Chuck Pagano liked how his reserve quarterbacks finished their respective playing time on Saturday.
"They looked real calm and obviously it wasn't too big for either of those guys," Pagano said.**
Colts Wait For Word On Sio Moore's Injured Hamstring **
Could the Colts be down another defensive starter?
They should find that out Sunday, when a further evaluation will be done on the injured left hamstring to Sio Moore.
On Saturday night, Moore was injured fielding a first-quarter punt. After going down, Moore was attended to by team trainers, before gingerly walking off the field under his own power.
When Moore was playing on Saturday, we saw him, D'Qwell Jackson and Nate Irving rotate the starting reps at inside linebacker.
Pagano reiterated after Saturday's contest that T.Y. Hilton did not suffer an injury. The plan was for Hilton to play just a couple of snaps. Hilton exited after one series of action.
Other injuries from Saturday were as followed:
RG-Denzelle Good (quad, knee): The starting right guard went out with a quad contusion and a knee injury. The knee injury is not considered serious.
OT-Kevin Graf (ankle): The reserve tackle was rolled up on during the third quarter. Graf left on a cart and will be evaluated on Monday.
DT-Ricky Lumpkin (finger): Lumpkin tweeted out after the game that he dislocated a finger on three different occasions during the game.
CB-Darius White (no concussion): The undrafted cornerback passed a concussion test after taking a big hit on special teams.**
No Worry For Pat McAfee's Injury **
That knee tweak from Pat McAfee is long gone.
Late last week, after McAfee tweaked his knee in Anderson, the Colts signed punter Michael Palardy.
McAfee showed Saturday that he's back to health.
Arguably the game's top punter, McAfee had five punts on Saturday night, averaging 58.6 yards.
"Anytime you hurt anything on your kicking leg, you kind of (get nervous) a little bit," McAfee said of last week's scare. "As soon as I got back to practice the other day, I felt really good.
"I was hitting the ball then and it was nice to see the ball fly. So I was excited for tonight because I feel good."
McAfee lauded the Colts training/rehabilitation staff for getting him back to form so quickly.
A long punt of 67 yards silenced any lingering concern those might have had for the one of the game's most versatile specialists.
Colts/Bills Snap Counts
- The rookie draft picks on the offensive line played the following snaps: Austin Blythe (48-of-63), Le'Raven Clark (40-of-63), Joe Haeg (33-of-63) and Ryan Kelly (15-of-63).
- Kelly and Denzelle Good (15 snaps each) were the starters to play the most on Saturday night, four total series.
- Each quarterback played a half of football. Scott Tolzien logged 39 snaps. Stephen Morris played 24 snaps.
- Some snaps for the starters on offense: T.Y. Hilton (6), Dwayne Allen (6), Anthony Castonzo (9), Donte Moncrief (12).
- Defensively, the playing time for the 2016 draft picks were as followed: OLB-Trevor Bates (35-of-77), ILB-Antonio Morrison (34-of-77), S-T.J. Green (20-of-77) and DT-Hassan Ridgeway (17-of-77).
- Some snap counts for starting defenders: S-Mike Adams (9), ILB-D'Qwell Jackson (8), CB-Vontae Davis (12), CB-Patrick Robinson (13).
- With the defensive line banged up, the snaps up front were as followed: T.Y. McGill (43-of-77), Delvon Simmons (29-of-77), Zach Kerr (24-of-77), Kelcy Quarles (21-of-77), Hassan Ridgeway (17-of-77), David Parry (15-of-77) and Ricky Lumpkin (10-of-77).
- Undrafted safety Stefan McClure played the most defensive snaps (57-of-77).
