INDIANAPOLIS – Bouncing back has been a staple of Chuck Pagano's teams in his now fourth season at the helm of the Colts.
Pagano's Colts will try to once again follow a loss with a win on Monday night against the Jets. The Colts have lost back-to-back contests just once under Pagano (last season's first two games).
On Thursday, the Colts were back out at practice and the status of T.Y. Hilton was a hot topic.
Here are a few sound bites from Chuck Pagano and Andrew Luck meeting the media on Thursday:
Chuck Pagano on the optimism T.Y. Hilton plays on Monday:
"A lot."
Bowen's Analysis:* *Pagano made it clear on Thursday that he has a lot of optimism in Hilton practicing this week and playing on Monday night. Hilton's answer on Thursday was that he will be a "game-time" decision.
Hilton said he does feel a lot better and hopes to get on the field Friday for some work. The Monday night game falling now on the schedule could be extra important for Hilton's status to play. Is an extra day of rest going to be the difference in Hilton being active vs. inactive this week?
*Chuck Pagano on the Jets defense led by head coach Todd Bowles: *
"His mentality is very aggressive, play aggressive.
"It's obvious when they went out and got (Darrelle) Revis what type of defense they wanted to play."
Bowen's Analysis: Jets new head coach Todd Bowles and Pagano have plenty of familiarity with each other, having both coached in the Browns secondary, back in the early 2000s. In New York, Bowles has nine first-round picks on the defensive side of the ball and employs an attacking style.
Pagano said Bowles' defense wants to be suffocating in the backend to allow the front seven to get after the quarterback. It looks like the Colts will see a very similar defense in Week Two as to what they saw in Buffalo. The Jets led the NFL with five forced turnovers in Week One.Andrew Luck on what the offense needs to do differently this week against another attacking style:
"If you are in a good rhythm I think you have a good chance."
Bowen's Analysis: The common word Luck used on Thursday was "rhythm" in what the offense needs to do a better job of this week. It seemed like every time the Colts offense got into a good rhythm in Buffalo, a self-inflicted wound halted things.
The other aspect of the Colts offense Luck harped on Thursday was the need to strike on some big plays. Last year, the Colts led the NFL with 43 pass plays of at least 25 yards in 2014. When a defense blitzes, it is often feast or famine. The Colts hope to be the ones feasting when the Jets bring their inevitable pressure.
INJURY NOTES
Here is the injury report for Thursday:
- DNP: Darius Butler (hip), WR-T.Y. Hilton (knee), CB-D'Joun Smith (knee), CB-Greg Toler (neck)
-Butler and Smith are day-to-day with their injuries. Toler is still week-to-week but he is doing plenty of field work with trainers. What is keeping Toler from practicing is he's yet to be cleared for contact. The Hilton update is above.
- LIMITED: OG-Todd Herremans (shoulder), ILB-D'Qwell Jackson (toe), OLB-Robert Mathis (Achilles)
-Pagano said Mathis continues to be doing really well, with no residual effects following practice. As far as Mathis playing on Monday, there was no answer on that from Pagano.
