INDIANAPOLIS – While the talk since this year's NFL Draft has been about Andrew Luck being the beneficiary from four offensive line picks, there's another guy nodding his head in approval.
Frank Gore will spend the next few months running behind a variety of youthful bodies.
"It's good for both of us," Gore says of Luck and himself benefiting from the added talent to the offensive line.
"I think by having that much depth going forward and in Training Camp you have to compete and if you love this game you are going to put it all out there and that's a plus for this team."
What the young linemen will quickly notice about their lead back is a willingness, and desire, to practice.
Veteran off days for Gore are a rarity.
The recently turned 33-year-old running back is a big believer in some volume of practice reps.
"I like to get a feel for my plays," Gore says of practice.
"I feel like the more I practice during the week, the better I feel in the game. I've just been like that my whole career. I feel like once I can't do that (and) I'm not comfortable going into the game, I don't want to play this game."
The motivation for Gore coming into 2016 is rather high.
For the first time in his 11 NFL seasons, Gore finished last year without a 100-yard game and short of the 1,000-yard plateau.
"I'm not over it. I'm not going to be over it until I do it," the ever-durable Gore said during the Colts offseason program.
"I've been blessed that they kept me to get that opportunity to do it again---to go after my goals again, be that one to get the 100 yards they haven't had for years, to get that 1,000-plus yards. To have that opportunity when it's playoff time and it's time to get down and dirty, and you got to run the ball, I've got another opportunity to do it."
Milestones Gore could reach in 2016
- With 1,000 rushing yards, Gore would join Hall of Famers Emmitt Smith (11), Curtis Martin (10), Walter Payton (10) and Barry Sanders (10) as the only players in NFL history to rush for 1,000 yards in at least nine different seasons.
- With 1,000 yards, Gore would be the first NFL running back at the age of 33 or older to rush for 1,000 yards since John Riggins in 1984. He would also be the first Colts running back since Joseph Addai in 2007 to accomplish the feat.
- Gore has 12,040 career rushing yards, which ranks 15th in NFL history. He needs 700 rushing yards to pass Tony Dorsett (12,739) for eight on the NFL's all-time rushing list.
