1. Nick Cross & JuJu Brents played for two different reasons.
Let's start with Cross here. In the Colts' preseason opener, Cross played 35 defensive snaps – 23 of which were at free safety, per Pro Football Focus. Against Arizona – with Julian Blackmon, who's primarily played strong safety this preseason, on the sideline – Cross played 16 of his 23 snaps at strong safety.
The Colts are still working through what their best safety pairing looks like: Is it Blackmon at strong safety and Cross at free safety, or Blackmon at free safety and Cross at strong safety, or Blackmon with someone else? For what it's worth, Cross has received some good grades from Pro Football Focus at both spots: In preseason Week 1, he earned a 78.2 PFF defense grade; in preseason Week 2, his PFF grade was 71.5.
Nothing is settled on the back end yet, though, with this week's joint practice and preseason game with the Cincinnati Bengals serving as important data points.
"We're still working through those things," Steichen said. "Those guys are battling. We've got another week. We're going to Cincinnati. It's going to be a big week for all those guys back there at that position. We'll see where it goes from there, but he made some plays today which was good to see."
As for Brents, he played 12 snaps after missing the Colts' preseason opener – with him playing against Arizona a function of him not playing against Denver. He forced an incompletion with tight, physical coverage in the first quarter, but left the game with a nose injury.
2. Adetomiwa Adebawore's strong preseason continued.
The second-year defensive tackle, who consistently flashed during training camp practices in Westfield, was credited with one sack and three total pressures against Arizona.
Adebawore generated his first pressure by shedding a guard-tackle combo block and using his speed – he was the first player in NFL combine history to run a 40-yard dash under 4.5 seconds while weighing at least 280 pounds – to quickly get in the face of quarterback Clayton Tune. His sack came when he used his power to push guard Isaiah Adams into Tune; his final pressure came when he again used power to collapse the pocket into quarterback Desmond Ridder.
"You can just tell he's taking that next step to being a better player," defensive end Tyquan Lewis said. "He's more efficient with his hands. I think it's just time on the turf. You get better with time."
Adebawore mentioned a few times during training camp how much defensive line coach Charlie Partridge – who's in his first year with the Colts after a lengthy college coaching career – has helped him, specifically with his hand placement. As his hand placement has improved, his power rushes have been unlocked, and his high-end athleticism has shown up quite a bit, too.
For a player who transitioned from defensive end at Northwestern to defensive tackle in the NFL, Adebawore has made a noticeable Year 1 to Year 2 jump with the Colts – including to a guy who's been on the other side of the line from him in both college and the pros.
"Going against him in college, when we game planned, it was like, this is the guy on the D-line," guard Tanor Bortolini, who played guard and center at Wisconsin and faced Adebawore in the Big Ten, said. "Playing in the interior, that was never my problem — good luck, tackles. But getting to play against him here in practice and getting experience what our tackles had to go through, I think you gain a real appreciating for what he does and his arsenal of moves and what he brings to the table."
Through 45 preseason pass rushing snaps, Adebawore has generated seven pressures with a pass rush win rate of 20 percent, per Pro Football Focus (for context on how good that is: Only two defensive tackles had a pass rush win rate over 20 percent last season). And for Adebawore, being consistently disruptive in both practices and now games is giving him a major confidence boost ahead of the 2024 regular season.
"To do it in practice is one thing, but to do it in a game is different," Adebawore said. "I just think it helps elevate my confidence — okay, I'm out here on the field on gameday making these plays, so it just makes me a lot more confident in myself compared to just practice."
3. Segun Olubi keeps following the blueprint.
Olubi played 34 snaps on defense – tied with Adebawore and safety Rodney Thomas II for the most on Saturday – and led the Colts with seven tackles while contributing on special teams. The way Olubi, the third-year former undrafted linebacker, sees it, he's just following in the steps of the Colts' two primary starting linebackers.
"You get a blueprint, right?" Olubi said. "You get to see EJ (Speed) and Zaire (Franklin) and how they were carving out roles, and when they got the opportunity they made the most of it. So for me, it's the same thing where I can go back and literally watch their tape — okay, this is what they've done. I can talk to those guys, because I'm blessed to have them sit on the team and say okay, this is what they're doing now. And seeing that natural progression has been invaluable for sure."
Olubi's speed, physicality, energy and football IQ are all assets for the Colts on special teams, and like Speed and Franklin before him, he's begun to carve out a role on defense. Last year, Olubi stepped in at MIKE linebacker against the Carolina Panthers when Franklin was out with an injury; he recorded his first career interception in a 27-13 Colts win. In 2024, Olubi is competing to not just back up Franklin, but to be the third linebacker on the field when the Colts are in base defense (the Colts are primarily in nickel, with five defensive backs and two linebackers on the field).
"He's very explosive," fellow linebacker and special teams ace Grant Stuard said. "Brings a lot of effort. He cares about it a lot."
Olubi still has plenty of work ahead of him to match Franklin (a 2018 seventh-round pick) and Speed (a 2019 fifth-round pick). But entering his third year in the NFL, he'll look to continue striving to expand his role within not just special teams, but the Colts' defense.
"It's a natural progression," Olubi said. "Obviously I was blessed with talent and I cultivated it, so trying to do the most with what I've got."
4. Checking in with the Colts' three rookie offensive linemen.
Saturday's game was a prime opportunity for three Colts rookie offensive linemen to play a significant number of snaps: Matt Goncalves (third round) played 52 snaps at right tackle; Tanor Bortolini (fourth round) played 26 snaps at center and 20 snaps at left guard; Dalton Tucker (undrafted) played all 72 of the Colts' offensive snaps at right guard.
Those extended live-game reps are particularly important for offensive linemen, who don't rotate on and off the field during drives.
"As a young guy, there's very limited opportunities because the way it works is the ones get a lot of the reps in practice, and rightfully so," Bortolini said. "You want those guys to be ready when it comes to gameday. So you're limited on reps there, and to have the ability to go out there and get real live game work where you don't know if it's a three, four, five play rack or you could be on a 10, 15-play drive. You have no idea how it's going to end up. So to really get those game-like reps and those game-like drives is just really huge.
"I think it's just a different kind of conditioning and mentality when you know you're going to play six plays, and when the six plays are over you know you're going to be done in practice. It's a lot different than when you're on a drive and you have no idea when it's going to end and really straining every play and every rep."
For Goncalves, who only played in three games during his final collegiate season at Pitt, preseason games have been an important opportunity to get used to the speed of the NFL. He's also getting that experience in practice, with a deep Colts defensive line meaning plenty of reps against guys like Kwity Paye, Dayo Odeyingbo and Laiatu Latu.
"It's taught me a lot. The greatest teacher is failure," Goncalves said. "They've taught me a lot of lessons, especially when I get beat off the pass rush, just seeing what they do day in and day out. And if they beat me, I can learn from it, but I've also probably helped them as well."
For Bortolini, getting to play both center and guard in a game offered good experience in case he's called up on to play either during the regular season.
"The more you play it, the better you feel about it," Bortolini said. "So I think as the game progressed, the more snaps I got at guard, the more comfortable I felt out there. I think it takes a couple plays to get your feet wet, get used to playing and feel good about it again."
The last guy here is Tucker, a 6-foot-6, 307 pound guard with an 84-inch wingspan from Marshall. His teammates have taken notice of not only what he's put on tape, but how he's conducted himself in the Colts' offensive line room.
"He's somebody who's under the radar for sure, but he has a lot of experience, he's a tough kid and just like I was selected here, I think he's wired the same way we all are," Goncalves said. "I think it's really shown throughout these preseason games. He's doing a great job and I have a lot of confidence when I play next to him."
Goncalves, Bortolini and Tucker all said they're appreciative of the high standard set by O-line veterans like Quenton Nelson, Ryan Kelly and Braden Smith. It's a standard that's in place for not just the starters, but for the backups – who, over the course of a 17-game season, need to be ready to step in and meet that standard at a moment's notice.
"We have a really great group of O-linemen that's been really helpful to us young guys, and I think that's not common in a lot of places where these have been really great mentors for us, really great at setting the example," Bortolini said.
Added Tucker: "In my head, I'm not going to go out there and disappoint these guys that've done nothing but try to help me be the player that I am. I don't want to disappoint anybody, play the best game possible and play up to their standards, because they're here for a reason. They've been here for a reason. They know what they're doing. To learn from these guys has been amazing."
5. A decision is looming on QB3.
The NFL's emergency quarterback rule – which allows teams to dress a third quarterback but not have him count toward their active gameday roster – was tweaked this offseason. In 2023, that emergency quarterback had to be on the 53-man roster; this year, that quarterback can be on the 53-man roster or practice squad.
So in 2023, the Colts carried Sam Ehlinger on their 53-man roster. This year, they could opt for the same plan, or they could try to stash an emergency third quarterback on their practice squad – which means passing Ehlinger, Jason Bean and/or Kedon Slovis through waivers on roster cut-down day.
Ehlinger this preseason has consistently been the third quarterback on the Colts' depth chart, owing to his experience, athleticism and football IQ. Notably, Ehlinger has made a strong impression on Steichen, who wasn't with the Colts for the first two seasons of the Texas quarterback's career.
"Sam is a great leader in that room," Steichen said. "He's smart – very smart football player. Knows where to go with the football. He makes plays when he gets out there. He runs around and makes plays and something's not there, you can see he scrambles. He almost got that third down on that first drive when it was third-and-10. But he battles, he scratches, he claws. Love everything about Sam."
The Colts have seen some good things from Bean over the last few weeks, too, including a couple of scoring drives in his two preseason games.
"Explosiveness – I mean, he made a ton of plays," Steichen said. "Two touchdown scoring drives. Had the big fourth-and-one conversion. Had a big third down conversion. It was exciting. He did a lot of good things for us today for sure."
We'll find out next week, when rosters are trimmed to 53 players by 4 p.m. on Aug. 27, what QB3 path the Colts take – and how they take it.
