ANDERSON – The Colts were back on the practice field Wednesday afternoon after taking Tuesday off.
With shoulder pads on, the physicality was on display and a few injuries headlined the news coming out of Wednesday's practice.
Here are three takeaways from Wednesday's practice
PRACTICE TAKEAWAYS
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- Both T.Y. Hilton and Donald Thomas left Wednesday's practice and did not return. Hilton, who left practice with a jammed finger, went up with Greg Toler for a jump ball and both players got their hands on it before the pass fell incomplete. Hilton had a towel wrapped over his right hand for the remainder of practice. With Hilton out, rookie Donte Moncrief moved to the first team and continued his solid afternoon.
In an 11-on-11 drill, Thomas got tangled up in the trenches and fell to the ground. A fiery Thomas hobbled off the field before making the couple hundred-yard walk towards the training room. No official word was given on the injury to Thomas. Rookie Jack Mewhort filled in for Thomas with the first unit
- Wednesday saw the return of Trent Richardson to the Colts backfield. Richardson took part in his first Training Camp practice since July 24 and he participated throughout Wednesday's session and did not appear to be limited with making several cuts.
A few other players stood out on Wednesday in getting a chance to make an impression due to injuries. At safety, veteran Mike Adams got his first elongated run with the starting defense. As mentioned above, Moncrief was impressive, working mostly with Matt Hasselbeck. Inside linebacker Josh McNary was again held out of practice and that opened the door for Henoc Muamba. The Canadian Football League free agent signee won several one-on-one battles in blocking drills. Muamba also made a few plays during 11-on-11 drills. It should be noted that cornerback Marcus Burley continues to make plays.
- In front of the second largest crowd of the 2014 Training Camp, fans got to see some ramped up competition on Wednesday afternoon. Andrew Luck finished the afternoon 18-of-29 with three touchdowns and one interception (a tipped pass into the arms of Darius Butler). The highlight for Luck and the first team offense came in a drill that began on their own 45-yard line with 59 seconds showing on the clock. In three flawless plays, Luck completed passes to Hilton, Fleener and then Hilton for a deep score down the middle of the field. The Colts defensive line had a nice afternoon in one-on-one drills with guys like Art Jones and Montori Hughes winning their battles.
INJURY REPORT/ROSTER MOVES
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The following players did not participate in Wednesday's practice: Dwayne Allen (precautionary), Qua Cox, Vontae Davis, LaRon Landry, Devin Meggatt, Josh McNary and Loucheiz Purifoy
PAGANO QUOTEWORTHY
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Chuck Pagano on Andrew Luck and how he's seen the quarterback's personality change:
"He's growing like everybody else and he's way ahead of any place he's ever been. He's very steady, he's very confident. He'll come across you guys as that. But he's got some sides to him that you guys don't get to see, things that you don't know maybe. But again, he's a humble guy but he's one of the most competitive guys on this football team. A great leader, obviously, a great player. He's very steady. He's never going to get outside himself. When bad things happen, he's one of those guys, we talk about process, he's able to digest what happened and make the adjustments, make the corrections, and he's able to move on. That's one of the things that all great quarterbacks are able to do. Not be able to sit there and dwell on the past, but put it behind you and move forward."
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PLAYER QUOTE OF THE DAY
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Bjoern Werner on getting first team reps: "Its awesome, every time you get reps with the first team you get so much better, communication is on a different level, its important. I want to be the guy to step up and I'm lucky, I get all those reps to communicate with the guys out there."
PLAYER TWEET OF THE DAY
Oh Today was GREAT. Let's keep it going. #GOGA — Donte Moncrief (@drm_12) July 30, 2014
YESTERDAY'S TRIVIA QUIZ
The Colts are 162-78 in regular-season play since 1999. Name the only team with more regular-season wins, plus the four other franchises with more than 140 wins during that span.
ANSWER: New England (171) is the only team with more regular-season wins since 1999 than the Colts, while Pittsburgh (149), Green Bay (147), Baltimore (142) and Philadelphia (140) are the only franchises to earn 140-plus wins.
TODAY'S TRIVIA QUIZ
The Colts lead the NFL with 13 playoff berths earned since the start of 1999. Name the six franchises to earn at least eight playoff berths during that span, plus the number of teams that have failed to reach the playoffs during that span. See the next Colts Camp Notebook for the answer.
SPOTTED IN CAMP
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The national media is beginning to invade on Anderson. Lindsay Jones from USA Today, along with SIRIUS Radio were in Anderson on Wednesday.
PRACTICE ATTENDANCE: 2,935. TOTAL FOR CAMP: 10,793
WEATHER REPORT
After a few rain drops early on in practice, the skies turned for a beautiful afternoon in Anderson. Temperatures reached the upper 70s. The high for tomorrow calls to be around 80 degrees with sunny skies for the team's night practice on Thursday.
CAMP SCHEDULE
The Colts got back into their typical training camp routine with a morning walk-through on Wednesday and an afternoon practice. The schedule will change a bit on Thursday with a night practice taking place from 6:25-8:55 p.m. in pads.
