INDIANAPOLIS – Chuck Pagano wasted no time in getting to the real news of Thursday night.
Yes, his Colts starters had a productive night in the 2014 preseason opener but attention was focused on Khaled Holmes' first quarter ankle injury.
Reports from East Rutherford indicated that Chuck Pagano did not have an update on the injury to Holmes other then that the second-year center will have an MRI on Friday.
The injury is to Holmes' left ankle. He battled a right ankle injury during his time at USC and in last year's Training Camp.
"Really more than anyone, Khaled Holmes has been that pleasant surprise," veteran quarterback Matt Hasselbeck said after the game. "He's been just an awesome force in that locker room leadership wise, knowing what to do and he's been playing really, really well.
"We've got to trust in the medical staff."
While the Colts await official word on the diagnosis for Holmes, Pagano was pleased with what he saw out of his starting units on Thursday night.
Andrew Luck led the offense on a 12-play scoring drive to start the game. The drive ended with a 39-yard field goal from Adam Vinatieri.
The field goal drive was the lone series for the entire Colts starting offense.
T.Y. Hilton (three catches for 38 yards) and Hakeem Nicks (one catch for 14 yards) both recorded third-down conversions on the opening drive.
The Colts starting defense logged two series on Thursday night with a majority of starters staying in for both drives.
In the first half, the Colts defense held the Jets to under 100 net yards and to just a 33 percent conversion rate on third-down (2-of-6).
"I thought the effort was outstanding," Pagano said of the defense on post game radio. "I thought the tackling was good. The defense, other then one drive where we shot ourselves in the foot, played outstanding."
Photos from the first preseason game of 2014.
Hasselbeck led the Colts lone touchdown drive on Thursday night and he leaned heavily on the legs of Daniel "Boom" Herron for the score.
Herron continued his strong offseason with a 12-yard touchdown reception from Hasselbeck and finished the night with 13 touches for 62 yards.
Ahmad Bradshaw, Vontae Davis, LaRon Landry, Robert Mathis and Reggie Wayne were among the headline guys the Colts held out of action on Thursday night.
The Colts will now return to Indianapolis for their next two preseason games. Both will come on back-to-back Saturday nights with the Giants in town on the 16th and the Saints on the 23rd.
After an off day Friday, Colts headquarters will head back up to Anderson for a final five-day stretch to close out the team's 2014 Training Camp.
"We've got some things to build on," Pagano said.
"It's a good start. (We'll) go back and look at the tape and see exactly where we're at and go back to work."
Solid performance today from everybody. I feel like we got better and left everything out on the field. #BleedBlue — TY Hilton (@TYHilton13) August 8, 2014
