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INDIANAPOLIS – A third-down conversion, in an early August preseason game, isn't going to have great significance on the Colts 2014 season.
It is a glimpse though of just what Hakeem Nicks can bring to the Colts offense.
Facing a third-and-11 in the preseason opener last Thursday, Andrew Luck and the first team unit was staring directly at a three-and-out.
A one-yard loss to T.Y. Hilton on first down and an incompletion to Nicks on second down, set the Colts up in a scenario that had been drilled all offseason long.
With Reggie Wayne on the sideline, where would Luck turn on the Colts first third-and-long of the preseason?
How about to another veteran, 1,000-yard receiver?
Lined up in man coverage, at the top of the formation, Nicks ran a deep comeback route for a 15-yard completion that the newest Colts receiver made look routine.
The completion marked a productive final week of camp for Nicks as he continues to build the necessary rapport with Luck.
"I felt good, I felt like I got off to a great start and I want to have a stronger finish," Nicks says of his 2014 offseason.
"The timing of the routes, the grasping of the knowledge of the offense making sure I got that down pat by the start of the season, so when the season starts no more looking back. It is time to roll."
Nicks and good friend Ahmad Bradshaw will see their old team on Saturday night at Lucas Oil Stadium.
The two were pillars in leading the Giants to a Super Bowl XLVI win back at Lucas Oil three seasons ago.
While Nicks will suit up against some familiar faces on Saturday, Bradshaw's status remains up in the air.
Besides the early part of training camp, Bradshaw has been sporting a red "no contact" jersey throughout the offseason.
"I am very confident, and I just want to heal as much as possible," Bradshaw said earlier this week.
"There are not a lot of guys that have been through neck surgeries and a year later they are playing football again especially at my position. Right now as we speak, I am as confident as anything going in. I don't think about my neck at all playing and I am just shooting forward from here on out."
The Colts will play at home each of the next two Saturday nights with the starters getting their longest action of the preseason.
Bradshaw would like to have that red jersey removed for good come one Saturday night in the next week or so.
"I plan on going this game or the next, just to get the feel," Bradshaw said. "I think I have played long enough to understand the game. It's just getting out there, getting the feel of the motions and the game time speed.
"I also want to get out and test, if possible, my neck. But like I said, I think I have tested it enough in practice, I've hit guys, I've stood in there and blocked and I just want it to heal as much as possible and not take the unnecessary stuff."
