INDIANAPOLIS – The Colts are back at West 56th Street with half of their 2014 preseason schedule behind them.
The team is scheduled to practice each of the next four days before having an off day on Friday with the Saints coming to Lucas Oil Stadium for an 8:00 p.m. kickoff on Saturday night.
Here are three takeaways from Monday's practice/media sessions:
MONDAY TAKEAWAYS
- The Colts were back at the Indiana Farm Bureau Football Center on Monday with Training Camp continuing. It was a short, 45-minute practice session on Monday before things pick up the next two days.
This week provides a chance for the Colts to get into a "game rhythm" type feel with Weeks Two and Three of the preseason falling exactly a week apart. There will also be a bit of game planning for the Saints contest on Saturday night.
- The media portion of practice is back to regular season mode with just stretching, special teams work and individual drills being open. Guys that we saw return to the practice field on Monday included rookie Jack Mewhort, wide receiver T.Y. Hilton and running back Ahmad Bradshaw donning a blue jersey (contact allowed).
Another nice sight to see on Monday was Khaled Holmes out of his walking boot. He still has some sort of sleeve/brace on the lower part of his left leg. Holmes was in great spirits around the locker room following Monday's practice. The timetable Chuck Pagano gave for Holmes back on August 9 was two-to-three weeks. The front end of that time comes this Saturday.
- Pat McAfee drew quite the crowd around him during the open locker room session after Monday's practice. The talk was of course on McAfee's 64-yard field goal from Saturday night that missed just to the left. McAfee said his attempt was about a 3/4 swing because he wanted to make sure the kick cleared the line of scrimmage. A full swing from him has the ability to go about 68-69 yards, according to the Colts punter.
Whether or not we see McAfee attempt a field goal of such distance during the regular season remains to be seen but at least having that option gives Chuck Pagano something to weigh late in games/halves. Remember the NFL record for a field goal made in a game is 64 yards.
INJURY REPORT/ROSTER MOVES
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The following players were not seen, or did not appear to be participating, during the media portion of Monday's practice: Khaled Holmes (ankle), Xavier Nixon (knee), Josh McNary, Andrew Jackson (hamstring), Ulrick John (leg), Delano Howell (neck), Jerrell Freeman (thumb), Reggie Wayne, Montori Hughes, David Sims and Shawn Loiseau.
PAGANO QUOTEWORTHY
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Chuck Pagano (conference call from Sunday) on what he wants to see out of the running game going forward:
"Like we talked about last night in the presser, we've got to be able to run the ball better. I think two fold. I think once we can put a bunch of weapons out on that field, we just talked as a staff, I think 20, 26 out of the first 30 some snaps that we played on offense, the Giants elected to have the extra guy in the box. They were heavy in the box and played a lot of single high safety. Had the extra man down in the box, we were facing a lot of eight and seven-man spacing. It'll come to pass like last season towards the end when we lost some guys, you spread things out and you open things up. You get playmakers out on the field, those tight ends, Reggie (Wayne), T.Y. (Hilton), Hakeem (Nicks), Dwayne (Allen) and Coby (Fleener), you can get a backend there. Now you've got to make a decision defensively, just like we have to make, okay pick your poison. They want to drop a guy down in the box, we feel like we've got a guy under center that's pretty good at getting us in the right protections and getting us in the right plays and getting the ball into the playmakers' hands. I think that's something where, down the road, because of our ability at our skill positions and our ability at the quarterback position to throw the ball and guys at the skill positions on the outside to make plays, it'll open things up for our runners. I think everybody wants this guy to get going and that guy to get going, but there's some tough sledding right now and we're working at it. I think having the capability to do the other thing is going to open things up in the run game for us."
PLAYER QUOTE OF THE DAY
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Andrew Luck on what he would love to see on Saturday night against the Saints:
"Would love to run the ball better, would love to score more touchdowns. Not sure how much time we'll get as ones, but if history says anything it will be more time and probably into the second half. So run the ball better, score some points, convert some third downs. We'd love to go out and be perfect, but we'll see."
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PLAYER TWEET OF THE DAY
Goood Morning Goood Morning — Josh Chapman (@The_Boss61) August 18, 2014
YESTERDAY'S TRIVIA QUIZ
Robert Mathis holds the club record with 27 career multiple-sack games. Only three other Colts have as many as 10. Who are they?
ANSWER: Dwight Freeney had 25, while Duane Bickett and Chad Bratzke both had 10.
TODAY'S TRIVIA QUIZ
Peyton Manning played in 141 wins in his regular-season career with the Colts. Who are the three Colts tied for the second-most regular-season wins in franchise history and what is the number in which they played? See the next Colts Camp Notebook for the answer.
CAMP SCHEDULE
The Colts treated Monday like a normal Tuesday of game week, with this week's preseason contest on Saturday night. The Colts are expected to have practices the next three days in preparation of the Saints coming into town.
