Colts Coach Talks with Media Following Saturday's
practice
INDIANAPOLIS— Colts Head Coach Jim Caldwell addressed the media following Saturday afternoon's practice at the Indiana Farm Bureau Football Center. Here is what the Colts coach had to say:
Opening comments
CALDWELL: "What we did today is we came in and had an opportunity to look at the film, look at it closely on both sides of the ball and in the kicking game and evaluate it. There's this old saying, 'You're never as good as you think you are when you win, and you're never as bad as you think you are when you lose.' So there were some good things there, but there were also some mistakes. So we came out this afternoon after we finished watching the film to go to through a what we call a 'mistake period,' where we go over the mistakes that were made in the ballgame and try and reinforce (our principles) and get them to do them the right way so they don't repeat them."
Q: Were the offensive line's struggles early (in Friday night's game) technique-related?
CALDWELL: "A little bit of everything. We couldn't just put our thumb on one thing, but you know, the problems you have in those areas are typically a technique or fundamental problem."
Q: Are there any injuries of note?
CALDWELL: "We got a few guys obviously bumped up and etcetera, but the final word won't be out on them until we get through tomorrow. There's a little sprain here and there, things of that nature, but I don't have a complete list."
Q: What did you think of your team's running game overall Friday?
CALDWELL: "It wasn't quite good enough in terms of what we are looking for. We'd like to be able to control the line of scrimmage a little bit more. But (Joseph) Addai ran the ball well; he looked like his old self again. He moved through the hole nicely and made a nice run downfield. And Donald Brown, you can tell he's a young, energetic guy who likes to carry the ball, and he had two real fine runs for us. He popped through on a trap play, and he hit the outside on a little draw play. So he is doing a great job of coming along, and both of those guys are going to help us."
Q: In addition to Donald Brown, your other rookies played well. Jerraud Powers and Austin Collie both played well…
CALDWELL: "Your assessment is accurate. He did play well. Collie played well, Powers played well, Jacob Lacey played well – he had four (passes broken up). That's a pretty good night in this league. Obviously, (Pat) McAfee didn't do too badly, he showed he can punt the ball, but all of them have to continue to improve. The other thing of note, which might be worth noting, is Tony Ugoh played much better. He really made some progress and came along, and we are certainly pleased with the progress he is making."
Q: How do you think the young defensive tackles played?
CALDWELL: "(They played) young, they did some things real well. The guy of note, Adrian Grady, had eight tackles. When you make eight tackles in the middle, that is a pretty good night. But he didn't do everything right, in terms of his technique and fundamentals. Other than that, the young guys, Fili (Moala) did all right, but played like a young guy would play in his first NFL ball game. But he showed promise and we are excited about him. And Terrance (Taylor) as well, he was in there plugging away. We have to get them going a bit, but they are getting a better feel of what we are talking about. The standards we have are very high, and they have to continue to measure up."
Q: You have a short week coming up. How tough is it going to be to get things turned around and get back to what you want to do?
CALDWELL: "It is a work in progress. We anticipate we'll be able to get it back here shortly, but we are going to work at it on Monday and go after it again on Tuesday. It is like you said, it is a real short week with the last practice Wednesday morning, and then we break camp. And then we get ready to go and do battle with Philadelphia, who is a good football team. We are excited about that. We are excited to get an opportunity to improve this week, first of all. That is our number one goal. We want to focus in on practice and get ourselves in the kind of position we want to be in, in terms of how we are playing, the effort we play with and also the precision we play with. All of those things are important, and then we will take care of Philadelphia a little bit later in the week."
Q: Pat McAfee punted well Friday, how encouraging is it to see that?
CALDWELL: "It was good. He hit the ball well and he hit it consistently. He had a couple that we might not have been pleased with, but for the most part he did a nice job. He certainly would love to have that 45-yard punt with 5.0 hang time. That is certainly optimal. He got a few of them out there a little bit further, but we also had great coverage. Anytime you have an opportunity to cover those deeps punts and you don't let them run it back down your throats, you're in great shape."
