INDIANAPOLIS – As Colts players and coaches left the building on Thursday afternoon for a 34-day "break" until training camp commences, a transaction processed with the Colts signing nose tackle Brandon McKinney.
Calling this time a vacation wouldn't be proper in regards to the Colts personnel department.
It is Ryan Grigson's job to create the most competitive 90-man roster and that won't stop until Colts headquarters moves to Anderson on July 23rd.
"From here to Anderson it's about knowing your job to the best of your ability. Spending the extra time, taking advantage of all those things that we have in the building to help accelerate your learning curve so that you can play fast," Grigson says.
"This game is so competitive. This league is so competitive and this roster is so completive that you don't have a chance to take a breath, or look around, or smell the roses. You have to constantly be working towards being the best that you can be or someone is going to beat you out and you're not going to be here very long because the expectations are very high."
Earlier this week, Grigson recapped the 2014 minicamp with a couple of personnel notes regarding some key storylines heading into training camp.On Khaled Holmes' development:
"Khaled is a really smart guy but there's definitely I think a change in his demeanor because now he's in the spotlight…From the scuffles he's gotten into out on the field and the fire and intensity that he's come with every day at practice, I think those are all good signs. He is a competitor. He played in a very competitive league and program (at USC) so that was never a worry. I'd say he's shown a command and a presence in terms of knowing what to do, identifying the fronts, id-ing the people on defense so the offense can click."
On Bjoern Werner in Year Two:
"His demeanor is just one of all business. He's not walking around taking in the NFL experience, so to speak, as a rookie. Now he's here to do a job and do it well and you can just see it in his focus. I think his focus right now is at a peak level. I think he knows what's at stake. I think you see it just in the way he's playing right now, just the way he's getting off the ball, the way his body looks, what he did in this offseason. He was a constant that was here every second. He was like a wallflower. He was here every time you turned around."
On what he's seen from Robert Mathis this offseason:
"He only knows one speed since he's been playing ball, probably since he's been in Pop Warner. You're never going to see him throttle it back, no matter what. He always sets such a tone and a precedent out here in how you do things, how you work, how you practice. He's a guy that doesn't miss. That's never going to happen with Rob."
On signing veteran safety Mike Adams:
"It's the simple fact of you're always trying to improve your roster. He was a little long in the tooth and I talked to him candidly about that. But when you put on the film, you saw a guy that looks spry to me that played a lot of football. The one unique thing about Mike Adams is he has played a lot of football but he's never in the tub. He's always out there ready to go. His track record speaks for itself in that respect. He's the kind of guy that you take a chance on at that age because his track record is so extraordinary in terms of being ready to play on Sunday."
