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INDIANAPOLIS – With starters playing around a dozen snaps on Thursday night, trying to make concrete assessments on the preseason opener is difficult.
There were some intriguing takeaways though from the Colts finally getting the chance to hit someone else.
Here's a notebook rundown of the Colts falling, 13-10, to the Jets:
Boom Herron Shines In Preseason Debut
Chuck Pagano can use Boom Herron as the perfect example of what the coaching staff is looking for Monday-through-Friday.
Herron has been one of the most productive players during the team's 2014 Training Camp and he backed that up on Thursday night.
Serving as the backup to Trent Richardson (Ahmad Bradshaw rested on Thursday), Herron had 13 touches for 62 yards and scored the Colts lone touchdown.
"Boom's been practicing really well. He's had a great camp until this first preseason game so I'm not surprised at all that he played the way that he played," Pagano said after the Colts, 13-10, preseason opening loss.
"We always talk about you play like you practice, and he's been doing great. He's been having a great camp and you could see the results tonight in what he did on the football field."
Matt Hasselbeck utilized Herron on six different occasions out of the backfield on Thursday night.
Those six catches for the Colts second-year running back were twice the amount of the team's second leading receiver.
Making yourself available out of the backfield has been an emphasis of the Colts running backs in 2014.
"Boom has done a nice job catching the ball," Hasselbeck said.
"We've asked our running backs to get out quicker be there for check downs….and they've really answered the bell."
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Young Offensive Linemen Thrust Into Action**
It took just seven snaps on Thursday night before the Colts offensive line was asked to reshuffle.
Khaled Holmes' will have an MRI on Friday for his injured left ankle and that could foretell how the role of Jonotthan Harrison will change in the immediate future.
Harrison played the most offensive snaps of any Colt on Thursday night (42).
The undrafted free agent admitted he was a bit nervous in his NFL debut and that showed with some miscommunication on a pair of shotgun snaps.
"We hadn't planned to put (Harrison) in until the second half and he's in there in the first drive, Pagano said.
"I think he rose up to the challenge. Again, the snaps, we'll get that fixed."
During the limited action for the Colts first team offensive line, the unit gave ample time for Andrew Luck to work in the pocket.
The Colts will now head back to Anderson with the possibility of having to once again re-work the interior of the offensive line.Erik Swoope Makes Football Debut; Henoc Muamba Makes NFL Debut;
The intriguing storylines in the second half on Thursday night focused on the players with minimal football experience (Daniel Adongo and Erik Swoope).
It looked like we were going to get our first glimpse of Adongo in a defensive setting but that did not pan out.
Adongo injured his left bicep covering a kick, thus his defensive debut will have to wait.
We did see former basketball player Erik Swoope get his first taste of football at any level.
Swoope, who played basketball for the University of Miami last year, logged nine snaps (five on offense) on Thursday night.
"I'd say it was a big learning experience," Swoope, who also called his first game "thrilling" and "exhilarating", said.
"One of the first things that surprised me or was different was the stils (pictures) on the sideline. After you get a chance to play, then you get a chance to see what you did, see different looks, then make your adjustments. Overall, I would say it was a tremendous experience."
Defensively one of the highlights was the play of Henoc Muamba roaming in the middle of the Colts 3-4 defense.
The former Canadian Football Leaguer led the Colts with 11 tackles (nine solo) and forced a fumble.
With several injuries at the inside linebacker position, Muamba made the most of his 36 defensive snaps.
As Muamba heads back to Anderson and reflects on his NFL debut, he has one thing on his mind.
"Definitely be more aggressive," he said.
"I think there were a couple of times where I read some things and I felt like I needed to wait for another second. But there were other times where I felt really good and I really flowed well with the game."
**
Snap Count Look**
Each week, we will take a look at some of the snap counts from the previous game.
-The six offensive starters that played only the 12 snaps on the opening series were: Anthony Castonzo, Gosder Cherilus, T.Y. Hilton, Andrew Luck, Hakeem Nicks and Trent Richardson.
-Rookie starter Jack Mewhort played 24 snaps. Starting right guard Hugh Thornton played 20 snaps.
-The tight end breakdown was Dwayne Allen-10 snaps and Coby Fleener-8 snaps.
-After Hilton and Nicks, we saw Donte Moncrief lead the receiving group with 34 snaps. Da'Rick Rogers played 33 snaps and Griff Whalen logged 29.
-The defensive starters played right around 11-12 snaps in two series of work.
-Andy Studebaker shifted from his normal outside linebacker spot to the inside where he led the Colts D with 48 snaps.
