INDIANAPOLIS –Another day of full pads greeted the Colts on Thursday morning at the Indiana Farm Bureau Football Center.
NFL officials took part in Thursday's practice, with the Colts returning from the first off day of camp.
What were the takeaways from the Colts' fourth practice of the 2017 Training Camp?
PRACTICE TAKEAWAYS
- It was a pretty quiet day in terms of highlights, with the Colts having a heavy emphasis in the red zone on Thursday. Probably the play of the day for the offense came from tight end Mo Alie-Cox.
The Colts had Swoope split out wide, opposite safety Matthias Farley. It was a fade pattern for Swoope with Scott Tolzien dropping in a perfect pass to the tight end for a touchdown. This is an area of the field the Colts would be wise to use Swoope in come fall. With bigger bodies in Swoope, Donte Moncrief, Kamar Aiken and Jack Doyle, offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski will have some options when the field shrinks.
- We can't leave Malik Hooker out of the main takeaways again on Thursday. Hooker was back in full pads on Thursday and showcasing his range, even in a congested red-zone area.
Considering the news on Hooker this time last week (him on the PUP list), this has been a very solid first week of work for the rookie. He's gotten on the field, which was step No. 1, and is impacting the team drills that his pitch count allows for right now.
- It was the second day of full pads for the Colts, but the skirmishes were largely absent on Thursday. We still have not seen any live tackling sessions from the Colts.
With the full pads on, third-year offensive lineman Denzelle Good did work his way into the starting lineup at times Thursday. Good's insertion was likely due to Jack Mewhort still ramping himself up to a full workload of reps.**
OTHER PRACTICE MUSINGS**
- Remember when Ted Monachino said Vontae Davis would shadow some No. 1 wideouts this spring? We did see Davis follow T.Y. Hilton around a bit on Thursday.
- Reserve defensive lineman Hassan Ridgeway is getting back to 100 percent after missing the spring due to shoulder surgery. Ridgeway had a nice morning in one-on-one drills as the 2016 fourth-round pick tries to establish himself in the defensive line rotation.
- We saw a little bit of everything out of rookie running back Marlon Mack on Thursday. That includes pass blocking, an area the rookie must have down in order to play. Offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski has liked what Mack has shown as a blocker so far.
- Speaking of Chud, the OC did confirm that an advantage to switching Jack Mewhort and Joe Haeg helps balance out the experience along the offensive line. We continue to see Haeg working at left guard.
- Safety Lee Hightower, a favorite of Chuck Pagano's, had an interception on Thursday, marking another play for a guy fighting to sneak onto the 53-man roster.
- Robert Mathis continues to find himself on the practice field in camp. The franchise's all-time sack leader seems to be enjoying his early introduction into coaching.
- Fans still have one more chance to catch the Colts in Training Camp. While practices at the Indiana Farm Bureau Football Center are closed to the public, the Colts will have an open practice Saturday night at Warren Central High School. Details on that practice can be found here.
INJURY REPORT
The following players did not participate in Thursday's practice: S-Clayton Geathers (neck), DE-Kendall Langford (knee), QB-Andrew Luck (shoulder) and OL-Brian Schwenke (right leg). All four of those guys are on the physically unable to perform list. We also saw DL-David Parry and TE-Mo Alie-Cox sidelined for a second straight practice.**
COACH QUOTEWORTHY**
Defensive coordinator Ted Monachino on what he's seen from current starting safety Matthias Farley:
"Matthias certainly fits in. He is one of those guys that, there are a lot of height, weight, speed guys that have tremendous talent and skill. Matthias has his share of all of that, but there's also the football player. When you're evaluating him, you say 'This guy is a football player.' That's Matthias. When he's out there, we can all breathe a little easier because he's going to be where he belongs, he's going to say what he needs to say, he's going to help where he needs to help and he's going to tackle. We're right where we need to be with Matthias and he is too, on the depth chart."
PLAYER QUOTE OF THE DAY
Safety Malik Hooker on if he feels good enough to go out and play a game:
"Yeah, I feel like I am good physically enough to go out there and compete, but you just don't want to overdo it. It's been seven months since I got out there or have done a full week of anything or even had game like atmosphere. So you just don't want to go out there and overdo it."
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TWEET OF THE DAY
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CAMP SCHEDULE (all practices closed to the public, besides Saturday, August 5 at Warren Central High School)
Friday, August 4
8:00 – 10:45 a.m. – Practice
Saturday, August 5 – Practice at Warren Central High School (open to the public)
5:50 – 8:20 p.m. – Practice
Sunday, August 6
2:20-4:50 p.m. – Practice
Monday, August 7
Players' Day Off
Tuesday, August 8
8:00-10:45 a.m. – Practice
Wednesday, August 9
8:00-10:45 a.m. – Practice
Thursday, August 10 – Joint practice with Detroit Lions
9:30-11:40 a.m. – Practice
Friday, August 11 – Joint practice with Detroit Lions
9:30-11:40 a.m. – Practice
Sunday, August 13
Preseason Game 1 – Indianapolis vs. Detroit – 1:30 p.m.
Monday, August 14
Players' Day Off
Tuesday, August 15
1:45-4:05 p.m. – Practice
Wednesday, August 16
8:00-10:45 a.m. – Practice
Thursday, August 17
8:00-10:45 a.m. – Practice*
The analysis from those producing content on Colts.com does not necessarily represent the thoughts of the Indianapolis Colts organization. Any conjecture, analysis or opinions formed by Colts.com content creators is not based on inside knowledge gained from team officials, players or staff.*
