ANDERSON – The goals have been laid out for each Colts unit.
Offensively, a more consistent run game, keeping No. 12 upright and improving on situational football are the main objectives in 2014.
Defensively, stopping the run, creating more turnovers and getting off the field on the "money down" serve as the key focuses for this season.
With the Colts reaching the halfway point of Training Camp, offensive signal caller Pep Hamilton and defensive coordinator Greg Manuksy broke down their respective units:
Offensive Coordinator Pep HamiltonOn rookie wide receiver Donte Moncrief:
"He is deceptively fast, as well as a tough smart kid. It's hard to absorb and digest the volume of our offense. To get lined up is a challenge for a young receiver but he has put the time in with Coach Charlie Williams in the meeting room studying his playbook and he has been able to go out and make some plays for us."
On what he's seen from Trent Richardson:
"He has a better understanding of the offense. It all starts with his ability to play without the ball, we have to protect our quarterback. He has done a good job of making the appropriate adjustments in the pass protection standpoint. He is into it, a lot more relaxed now and like I said, I think he will be able to play fast without any uncertainty on game day."
On the current makeup of the offensive line:
"Well of course we've had to recalibrate and we've still got a lot of training camp in front of us so, in time, I think it'll all take care of itself. Our front five, the continuity of that group is still a work in progress and as we've said before, at some point in time we'll probably need all of the above to step in and step up and make plays for us. It's just the nature of the beast, it's the ultimate war of attrition and it's unfortunate that we've had to deal with the circumstances that we've had to deal with here in the past week and a half or so. But, I think we've shown that we have the character, the versatility within our system but more importantly, we have the depth of talent to make sure that we give the Colts a chance to win on game day."
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Defensive Coordinator Greg ManuskyOn if there's more of an emphasis on creating more turnovers this year (27 takeaways last year, 15th in the league):**
"I think it's about the same. From a strip standpoint, we're always trying to get that ball out. We've had more picks this offseason then we've had in the past at training camp. We haven't had as many fumbles as we've had in the past. We're always talking about getting the ball out and every night that we're over there, I'm talking about getting turnovers and giving the ball back to our offense because we've got a prolific quarterback and good things will happen when he's at full steam."
On the competition at safety:
"You've got Mike Adams, Delano Howell, Sergio (Brown), and you've got Colt Anderson. They're all in the mix right now. I don't think anyone's set higher than anybody right now. We're going through practice, we're kind of filtering those three, four guys in with the first unit to see who will make the strides. When you get to the preseason games, of course that holds a little bit more because they're going against live action. That's what we're looking forward to Thursday when we play the Jets."
On how important it is to evaluate game tape:
"What you do when you're going into a preseason game, the first one, you hope everyone comes out of it healthy of course, but you just want to see what the guys can do. From a man-to-man standpoint, obviously with the corners, how they cover it. You want that camaraderie across the board, don't get me wrong, but also it's individual talent to see how they play and perform at a live level, so that's what we're looking for, in the open field, the tackling and doing those things."
