Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - COLTS SQUAD SHOW: PROVE It Time | Which Colts Have the Most on the Line in the Preseason Finale?

Episode Date: August 27, 2026

With a final opportunity to leave a lasting impression, which Colt has the most on the line for Saturday's preseason finale? We'll talk about some of the players who have a lot to show (and prove) against the Lions. Also, are you down with the Colts new rivalry uniforms? We debate as a group, and get into the latest on Alec Pierce's status for the season opener and the message the Mekhi Blackmon cut sends to the rest of the team. Find and follow Locked On Colts on your favorite podcast platforms:  🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts/locked-on-colts/  📺YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLdpxJspi1hMh5HL7ExpWOQ  Give the squad a follow on X/Twitter @Schultz975, @JakeArthurNFL, @ZachHicks2, @allenpinkett, @colts_hit, @LockedOnColts, and @ColtsOn_SI, as well as on TikTok and Instagram!  Locked On NFL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft & More  🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts/lockedoncolts  Everydayer Club  If you never miss an episode, it’s time to make it official. Join the Locked On Everydayer Club and get ad-free audio, access to our members-only Discord, and more — all built for our most loyal fans. Click here to learn more and join your team’s community: https://lockedonpodcasts.com/everydayerclub Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! FanDuel Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Join all the action at https://FANDUEL.COM to play Daily Dingers and make your free pick on who’s hitting a homer this MLB season. KALSHI For a limited time,Download the Kalshi app and use code [LOCKEDON] to get $10 when you trade $10. Square Get up to $200 off Square hardware when you sign up at https://square.com/go/lockedonnfl! #squarepod Gametime Today's episode is brought to you by Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Welcome to the Colts Squad Show. I'm Derek Schultz, and this is completely unrelated to football, but Dolly Parton rules, man. Rest in peace. Derek took mine. I'm Jake Arthur, and I was going to say, rest in peace to a queen, Dolly Parton. I'm Alan Pinkett, former Oiler, and the Colts didn't wait till the official cut day to let somebody go. We will discuss. I'm Will. Starloper. The Colts finally got some sweet new uniforms. I'm excited to see those. Colts Nation rise up. It's the Colp Squad, everything Indianapolis Colts every week.

Covering all the big hits and game-changing plays from the Circle City, the way only the locked-on podcast network can. It's time to squad up. The Colts Squado starts now. Welcome to the Colts Squad Show. Today's show brought you by CalShe for a limited time to download the Calci app and use code locked on to get $10 when you trade $10. I'm Derek Shultz, long-time indie sports talker. I'm joined by Nordame Legend and longtime NFL running back Alan Pinkett, along with Locked on Colts Daily host Jake Arthur and New Colts Hits host Will Star Lippers. Zachix will return for our postgame show coming up on Saturday. As the Colts head into their preseason finale,

we've got a lot to discuss tonight, boys, starting with who that game is most important for, which Colt has the most on the line Saturday in the final edition before roster cutdowns happened for the 2026 season. and we'll lead off the show with that. Yay or nay on the Colts new rivalry uniforms. You guys are talking about it, so we want to talk about it too. I've seen opinions from kind of all over the spectrum.

But again, people just complain about this no matter what. You're never going to get 100% hit rate with a uniform rollout. But we'll talk about that coming up at segment number two. Alec Pierce and his status may be trending up. We'll lean in on Jake, who is our boots on the ground at the Colts Complex. It was our boots on the ground in Westfield as well during training camp each day for the latest on that front as we breathlessly await for him to be activated from Pup and be ready to go so we can all sleep at night again.

And then the squad squibs. Alan had mentioned it. Mackay Blackman is no more as a Colt, but also some other non-cult's news. But Colts adjacent news like this whole deal with college football and the conferences and guys getting cut from an NFL training camp and then returning to college and the craziness of that. And then, you know, kind of the internal question, what the hell with the Brown's doing? we'll try to fit in that as well

when we get to our squad squips to end tonight's show. But guys, let's start with this preseason finale coming up here on Saturday. And Jake, I know it's not just about the games, right? You're adding up everything. You're adding up the entire offseason program and the evaluation

is wide reaching. More than just you know, three, six, whatever it is, nine hours of preseason football, even though we know these guys aren't playing all four quarters of these games. That said, this is the last chance. It is put up or shut up time for some of these guys in game action, especially, and we can go over these. There have been some guys that have really disappointed as far as the actual games are concerned,

but who jumps to your mind as the cult that maybe has the most on the line? And I don't necessarily mean like they need to play well Saturday or also going to get cut. I just mean just in general, like leave a good last impression before this season starts and potentially take some momentum into when the games actually count. I will say when you brought this up there, there was a few guys that really came to mind. Obviously, the quarterback, the backup quarterback spot, that's paramount. You know, Shane Steichen said this last week is going to be pretty critical for those guys, Anthony Richardson and Riley Leonard.

I've got to think when it comes to Shane Steichen, he's not going to let it come down to this. He's probably already got a pretty good idea. So let's, I don't know how much this week really matters in that battle. But I think the two guys that I really thought of were. DJ Giddens, first and foremost. And this really got kind of hammered home with the Mackay Blackman waving. Because I didn't think the Colts would do it. I didn't think it was a bad move, but I didn't think they would do it.

I thought there was, he was probably one of the guys they preferred over like a Jalen Jones or Jonathan Edwards, you know. So I think with DJ Giddens is kind of in that same standing. He missed, I think, five practices or so with a hamstring. He's back now participating fully. And I'm not even going to say he looks bad in practice because he doesn't. He looks fine. He's catching the ball again. But Seth McGowan and Ulysses Bentley just have looked so much better throughout the entire summer.

McGowan is running really tough. He looks good in pass protection. He's catching the ball really well. So for my money, there's no question. McGowan should be the new RV too. But Bentley just, he looks explosive and he catches the ball really well. He plays special teams. And I really don't think the Colts should keep more than three running backs. So if I'm deciding who the three running backs are, Giddens is on the outside looking in. And then on the opposite end on defense, I think Jalen Tua has got to start showing something.

If you guys have been paying attention to Zach on Twitter, I think he's really been shining a light on it. If you didn't really catch it during the games, the guy's getting blown off the ball. And his strong suit coming out of Ohio State was supposed to be his run defense. The guy can set the edge. You know, until he catches up as a pass rusher, he can at least defend the run really well. Well, his pass rushing is just very whatever, very ho-hum. but as a run defender, he is getting sent to different universes.

He's not factoring in at all. And if you look at a lot of these big runs that the Colts have given up in the preseason, he is getting buried on most of them. So Toomalo, I don't think he's in danger of getting cut because he's a second round pick and they still owe it to themselves to kind of see the room.

But I do think he's in danger of almost never seeing the field in favor of like a Michael Clemens, for example. Clemens is a big guy who's an edge setter who can also play inside and out. And that was kind of supposed to be the same skill set as Tua Moloao. So I think if Tua Tua Molo can't show something against a different team or even really his own, then I think he is going to wind up getting buried on the depth chart. Well, I hope I don't sound too much like an echo because you hit,

on a lot of different areas. You know, I was going to say Mackay Blackman, but, you know, Colts took care of that. Yeah, you know. And I will also say this, you know, at the start of training camp, most teams already know who their 53 are going to be. But they will leave room for maybe two or three exceptions. And I would say, don't be surprised if a big name gets cut. Because what is it? There was a term for it, but, you know, a start of regression is what they refer to where sometimes I know Billiuchick was known for this.

They cut somebody a year before they really want to cut them. You know, and that happens across the league. So don't be surprised. But, Jake, you hit on a lot of different areas, you know, with. with DJ Giddens, you know, his unavailability is not going to help because we still don't know if he can pass block. You know, and you can almost forgive a rookie for, you know, not being up to stuff on all the assignments. But when there's other people that come in and look good, make you forget that you're on the roster, then I think that he really has to show why he was drafted this week.

But I've been impressed with Ulysses Bentley and, you know, the other guy I like because he's where's number 20. You know, I was going to say Dion Burks, but he's getting more run now. You know, so I think he's safe. You know, the one you, JTT that you brought up when you said that, I'm like, oh, yeah. But I tell you, high draft picks usually are shown some favor. because they paid too much money to them. So sometimes GMs are stubborn. And it's like, well, that's too much of a mistake to admit to.

So I'm going to give his ass another year to prove me wrong. So he may still be here, but like you said, he could be buried on the depth chart and not get in. but it's just rookies you can give a little bit of leash. Rookies drafted high, they get a lot of leash. And so I think you nailed it on all of them. And all I could do was just add to what you say. With, I guess, one more I would throw in there.

I think Riley Leonard really has a lot to prove. I don't think QB2 is settled yet. And I think the plan was let AR go ahead and, you know, have some good games so we can trade his ass. But AR has sort of emerged as, you know, a better QB2 than Riley Leonard. You know, it's almost like a sophomore slump has hit him. So I think Riley needs to have an excellent game this Saturday. so that, you know, the Colts can resume working on a trade for AR. Yeah, definitely would have mentioned quarterbacks.

You know, last year at this point, it was Richardson versus Daniel Jones. And from somebody that's not at practice and has Anthony Richardson bias from being a top five pick, a lot of the community was like super confused from that pick. And like Jake said, Stuygens probably got his mind. made up already, but I guess we'll see from the fans. It seems like there's a clear lead a little bit, but obviously they'll each get a quarter Saturday, definitely JTT and Giddens as well. And among some secondary stuff, obviously with Blackman getting cut, you have some corners and some safeties fighting for some spots. But I think the number one thing that I am most

interested in is this kicker debate. That is one tough decision. I mean, you have Schrader who was balling out until his injury last season and groupie came in and now it's just complete opposites where it seems like groupies by far the most accurate quarterback or kicker in training camp and practices and stuff like that and then he gets to the preseason game that's the complete opposite a bunch of straders nailing everything groupies struggling so I know the special teams coach came out and said that that would pull a lot of weight of like in-game pressures and stuff but just kind of like two different sides of that. So super interested to see how they go about that.

And then I would say the other thing that I would be looking into is those wide receivers. Now that you add Keenan Allen to the wide receiver core, that's one last spot that's available on a 53-man roster. And you have some special teams guys that bring some value there in Anthony Gold, Coleman Owen, and honestly, Dionne Burks a little bit. Obviously, Berks had a great game Saturday. given the circumstances, four catch for 19 yards, was somehow the most impactful wide receiver that day.

And then you have Lequan Treadwell, who has, obviously, his first round pick didn't pan out, but somehow he's lasted about a decade in this league. And I heard that he had a pretty big day at practice with some wide receivers injured the other day. So, I mean, those are four guys that are fighting for a spot. And hopefully with some, I would hope, some better play from, you know, you get a couple of drives of starters. You get some backups in there.

These guys are super intriguing to me to see what kind of impact they can bring Saturday. Yeah, I guess to kind of echo, because by the time I go forth, everybody's said mine, right? But what really frustrates me is when you have guys where, and Alan knows this, obviously you have to go out and win the job, right? It's the NFL. You're not going to be handed it. But there are certain guys where, their spot is kind of put on a tee for them. And all they have to do is walk up and whack the ball. And I really felt that way about Riley Leonard and QB2 and Jalen Tuamuolal and being the second edge guy.

And all you got to do is just walk up and just don't screw it up, okay? Just like don't put it in the water to do a golf term again. And both of those guys who just felt like they just kind of kicked it right into the water. like as much as I'm still enamored with Anthony Richardson's physical gifts and things like that. I mean, essentially I think he's QB2 somewhat by default at this point. Just because I don't think you could put Leonard out there

with a straight face and say, this is our backup quarterback. With the way that he's played, it looks nothing like the guy that we saw in Houston. He looks very apprehensive. I don't know if he's in his own head or what, but even in camp, it was the same thing, not just when the bullets were flying in the preseason game. To him, Wawa, has been a huge disappointment, and really ever since he got here and you're just waiting for him to do something. I mean, it's been now 13 months or whatever,

16 months of doing nothing. And the other guy that I'll add to this list, even though I think he's had some bad luck with the hamstring and things like that is DJ get-ins. I think that was another guy who, I mean, we all sort of assumed was going to be RB2. And then you have a guy that was taken the last 20 picks in the draft to give him credit, but McGowan has come in and not only taking that job, but he's put a stranglehold on it.

Like that, that thing's a done deal. And it's been a done deal for a while that he's going to be RB2. those are the three guys that I think still, and I don't think any of them are in danger of getting cut, but, well, I shouldn't say that. Giddins, I do think, right? But I don't think Leonard

or two them all after just one year is in danger of getting cut, but I'm just very underwhelmed by both of them, and that's been a bummer so far in this preseason. We come back on the Colts squad show. Should the blue helmets be permanent? Are the Colts trying too hard to beat Duke football?

We'll discuss the pros and cons of Indy's latest rivals uniform reveal when the Colts Squad show returns next. This portion of the Colts squad show brought you by Calci before the season kicks off. Everyone's making predictions. Who wins the division? Who makes the playoffs? Who's lifting the trophy at season's end? On Calci, America's number one prediction market platform, you can trade those predictions in a live market. Well, the Colts qualify for the playoffs this season.

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And we're back on the Locked on Colts Squad show. Thanks so much for joining us alongside Jake Arthur, Locked on Colts Daily host, your first listen every day. Alan Pinkett, former NFL running back and Will Star Lipper, our new addition to the squad as part of Colts hits. I'm Derek Schultz. Thanks so much for being here for our midweek show. Don't forget to check out the Every Day or Club, guys.

Add free episodes and access to a group chat with Jake, Zach, and other listeners of Lockedon Colts. Tap the link in the show notes or go to Lockedon Podcast.com slash Everydayer Club. So we actually sort of step away from the football field, at least the football analysis portion of the football field, to talk about these uniforms because it was making its rounds this week. The Colts announced those. They did this, what was it, last year with the Indiana Knights uniforms. as well. But I really think that these rivalry ones are very strong. Personally, right? This is all subjective when it comes to this stuff. But I like the gray. I was tired of doing black for everything.

That's not just the Colts. It just feels like everybody's doing black. You know, Indiana's National Championship shirts were black. And I'm like, what are we doing? You know, you have a great color scheme. You have cream and crimson. What are we doing with black? And then the Colts with the night jerseys are night mode or we're seeing this on the college and pro levels. So I understand. understand that gray looks a little lioness and and that was one of the complaints online Jake, but you're not going to please everybody. But I think overall is pretty pleased. I think the blue helmets are super sharp. Love those. Yeah. The Colts incorporated a lot of things that people have been kind of clamoring for for a while. The blue helmet has been something people have been asking for

something like a black uniform as well. They didn't do black, but they did this, this gray color with a stark gray. I like them overall. I'm I get, I'm not one of the people who hates every uniform that every team brings out, but I am kind of a snob when it comes to some of the details. Like I, I think like the accent colors need to be balanced throughout the uniform. Like, I hate when there's like one bold color in it and then it's nowhere else in uniform. You know, I think the Colts actually did a really good job of that. There's the blue helmet. There's blue on the jerseys as well there's blue stripes on the pants so that's really good however something no one it really ever talks about it's also up to the player each individual player to make the uniform

look good too you know like you got to throw like blue cleats on there or like some sort of blue accent on the bottom with blue gloves that's just me maybe when i played mad and i spent way too much time playing dress up with guys first that's neither a ear or nother but no i really like the jerseys overall. I like that the Colts have stepped out and kind of given fans alternate uniforms a little bit more. Like I know the Indiana Knights uniforms are like very polarizing. Like you either love them or hate them. But it's something different, you know. And I think the Colts like base normal uniforms are one of the better ones in league. Like they're good. They're classic. They're not real cheap looking. Like some teams overthink it and they look really cheap. And like,

almost like a basketball uniform. They're classic. They look good. But you want to see something different occasionally. And if you're not going to break out throwbacks like they haven't forever, then you can bring out these rivalry ones. You can bring out the Indiana Knights. So I like it.

It's something kind of fresh and different and it doesn't look too crazy. I like that this team seems to take kind of bold swings with some of their uniforms as well. like the Indiana Knights ones, that like heather material and like kind of some of the patterning on that, that's not really anything. Another team is done. And then these gray ones, it's kind of unique as well. But yeah, I think the blue helmet with it really stands out. I think it looks great.

I don't really have any complaints on that. And, you know, again, like I said, I'm not someone that hates every new uniform that comes out, but I'm not trying to keep too much praise on him either. I think they did a good job with it. So, you know, I come from an era where we never changed the uniform. But keep in mind, I graduated from college 40 years ago. And so the uniform was not changed. And there's, you know, plenty of teams in schools that probably look down upon changing uniform.

But I think you've got to go all the way back to. University of Oregon, they were the ones that first started switching up to uniforms. Every week. Yeah, and, you know, there were some colleges that wouldn't switch up the uniforms. And then it made its way to the NFL. And, you know, I don't ever dislike a uniform change. The way I look at it is if the players like it and the players have fun with it, then I'm cool with it. And, yeah, they do look sharp. But, you know, the overriding theme when I see a new uniform is thinking about NFL properties, making some more money. They love to throw something out there that you're going to have to buy.

and all 32 teams share equally in that profit. So hopefully the Colts do well in that uniform that would spur on more sales of that. But like I said, if the players like it, then I'm cool with it. Yeah, I feel like the uniforms are always just overly controversial. I've never really had much of an impact or much of a strong opinion on a lot of new jerseys. But obviously, you know, we've been getting a lot of new looks, not just the Colts, but throughout the NFL the past couple of years. I think for the most part, a select few.

I've been like, I wasn't too big on the funky stuff the bills did. And I know a lot of people don't like the Jaguars like cheetah print pants. I've heard a lot about that. The Stewards Bumblebee ones from years ago that look like jail outfits. Yeah. So I do think there are certainly some ugly uniforms like some of those. But me personally, like once again, I'm not one of the strong opinion, controversial, this is bad, this is good. I was personally a little overwhelmed by the Indiana Nights.

I'm not really sure why I don't really have a good point. I think I was a little thrown off on like the heather part of that. But I've been wanting the blue or black helmet for a while. So I'm ecstatic to see the blue helmet. I think it looks really good. Black uniforms, obviously. Derek wasn't a fan of that. But the dark gray, I think it looks really good.

I really like the little horseshoe they have on the shoulder patch. And honestly, I thought the video was kind of cool, too, that they released. And I agree with Jake's point on sometimes that uniform may depend on what type of accessories players are wearing with. What colors going under their jersey, their cleats, their gloves. But I think for the most part, this is a really cool uniform that I've been waiting for for a while. Yeah, it's a balancing act because Jake, to your point, you want it to be sharp and grabby, but you also don't want to make it look like something you can buy in the clearance aisle at Meyer. Yeah.

And so, you know, the Colts are trying to kind of strike that balance. I think the metallic blue on the helmet is striking. And I love how it looks with the gray on the jersey. And that's just, again, that's a personal preference thing. But if I'm not mistaken, the blue helmets, I think they wore them back for a time in the Baltimore days. They did a throwback game. I think it was against the Eagles in one of Peyton Manning's last seasons where they wore blue helmets, but it was more like a solid blue and they ended up losing that game.

I think that's the one time that they had the it was the Austin Colley concussion game. Yeah, where he was frozen and it was very scary in that game. They ended up, yeah, they lost the Eagles that day, if I remember right. But I think they hit the right notes. And, you know, they made it, they tied it in with something, the anvil, which I know, some people are like, oh, the anvil's lame, but you know, the anvil's been around. Not there. 10 years now.

Like, and I've always thought the anvil was badass. So maybe I'm the wrong person to ask about this because everything about this one I really like. But Will, I think this is great to come off of Indiana Nights because I thought Indiana Knights was just kind of too like manufactured and it didn't hit me right, even though there were people that really love that Heather Jersey. I just think there's a lot to do. When you have a timeless color combo like that. that bright, bright blue and the white.

And then you can incorporate gray and black. You can do that regardless of what your color scheme is. I just think the Colts have a great palette to work with, much more so than like the Titans or somebody. No offense, Alan, there's somebody like that. Yeah, I do like, to your point, Derek, how they tie it in with a theme. Like, if you're going to go for it, go for it. You know what I mean?

Like they have someone bang the anvil at the beginning of every game. They have incorporated that theme into these jerks. jerseys with like the i think the uniform the point of it being gray is it's supposed to be like the color of an an bill yeah um they you know they still do the promotional videos like will was talking about with the blacksmith doing his thing so like whether it's corny or not they're leaning into it you know there's a plan i appreciate there at least being a plan whether you agree with the plan or not uh but yeah i i like a theme you know as long as you stick with it and everything doesn't always look so disjointed and weird.

Like, why not? And can I give another possibly unpopular opinion here? But I'm just thankful whatever teams in Indiana. And no offense, I know that this is an important aspect of Indiana. I like it when they don't do things that have anything to do with farming or corn. You know what I mean? I'm like, hey, like, I don't have to lean into it. Yeah, I live in a city.

I'm a city person. You know, the corn and farming. and things like that. Yes, it's an important part. And I had relatives in bourbon. Like, I got nothing against farms. I don't need that to be. I don't want some New York marketing company to come in here and be like, yeah, I think we're going to do ears of corn on both shoulder past. You know, I just feel like we really kind of have done that in the past. And it's just, it's a little lame and tired to me. So I just like kind of the sharp city new sort of feel. But I also understand that in my 40s, they're not making these jerseys for me. They're making them

more for people like Will and younger that, you know, you guys have a much. more idea of what's cool and what's not color aesthetic-wise than I do. Hey, I'll tell you another jersey that struck out to me. You remember when Seattle was doing all that neon business that they would wear on Thursday night games? Color-ush, yeah. Yeah, and then what San Diego wore last year with that mustard color, they deserve to get their ass kicked wearing those jerseys. I liked those.

I like the neon green. I liked the gold. My hot take on uniforms is I think the Chargers Powder Blues is overrated personally. Oh. Yeah. That is a hot side. I think it gets romanticized way too much. And I, if we're talking Chargers uniforms, I'm much like the like Navy Jersey white pants that we always saw like Drew Brees, Philip Rivers, Lidanean, Tomlinson.

I prefer that. Well, I'll tell you what, excuse me, but I didn't really. really liked the oiler uniform when I played because the teams that won, you know, you know, a million years when I played had strong colors. And Columbia Blue wasn't strong. In fact, that was the same time that Tampa Bay was wearing that sissy orange. And they finally-cissicles, yeah. Yeah, they made a decision to switch that up.

And let me see, who else? Denver, wearing that just orange. they finally decided, look, we'd gotten our butt kicked in the Super Bowl how many times? Because we don't have a strong color. So they went to that blue with just a, you know, orange tint.

You know, so, but now that Columbia blue that I wore, that's popular now. The Denver Denver made the worst decision they ever made. I know they won Super Bowls after that. The stripes going up the side. I always saw those were some of the worst. You like those. You like those.

Jake, right? You didn't like those? I hated that the Terrell Davis era Broncos jerseys that they've worn for a long time and then Peyton, they did the orange ones. I hate them. I think they're awful. I love the helmet.

I love that logo. I really like that. I don't like the jersey. Kind of like the Titans. I like the Titans logo. I hate their jerseys. I've never liked anything that they've worn. But I like the logo with the stars and the things like that.

I think it's kind of up to the players to make it look aesthetically pleasing to, though. Like Champ Bailey and those, those blue broncos, you know, or not the blue pants. I didn't like that at all. But the blue jersey white pants, like that looks shook. Yeah. No, you're right about that.

It is sometimes up to the player. Oh, and I didn't, I didn't like it when San Francisco went to the white pants. Because I think that gold on. Timeless. Yeah, it was. Yeah, it's beautiful. Classic. Yeah, you can't mess that up.

And they did, unfortunately. Could the Colts punt Alec Pierce from the Pupplist as soon as this week? We're going to talk about the latest on Pierce's injury and how we're really. to crutch time now when the Cold Squad Show returns. This portion of the Cold Squad Show brought you by Game Time. There are more live events than ever. We're seeing right now, games, concerts,

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Download the GameTime app today. And we're halfway through our midweek show, locked-on Colts squad show. Thanks so much for being here, Jake Arthur, Alan Pinkett, Will Starlipper. And I'm Derek Schultz. Zach Hicks will rejoin us for Saturday's post-game show as the Colts have their preseason finale against the Detroit Lions.

Let's talk Alec Pierce, who we have spent a lot of time on on this show throughout the off season. Obviously back in, what was it in March, He had the situation where he had the ankle cleaned up, and we've been waiting to see what's going to happen from him and when he's going to be cleared to play and be ready to go with the leg stuff. I know there were reports that the Colts were hopeful that he was going to practice this week. I know he didn't practice yesterday.

Jake, are you hearing anything on that end? I mean, the Colts have, I'll give them credit. They have not been secretive about this. They have maintained public optimism that everything is fine. And they haven't always done that with injuries before. And we've talked about, you know, the trust level and things like that with the fan base. But the Colts have seemingly maintained that everything is going to be fine. So I guess the question is, is it going to be fine now that we're heading into the final days of August here and the season opener is right around the corner?

So, I mean, Shane Stuyken's never been accused of being the greatest, you know, communicator through the media. But when he says, yeah, hopefully he'll be back this week, I mean, that's a different tone than he has taken when we've asked him every week for the last several weeks. So there's obviously only one day of practice left, and that's tomorrow this week. So I imagine maybe Alec will be out there. If not, I'm sure fans will handle that so well. but that doesn't mean that he won't like up his progress in some sort of capacity. Now, we did talk to Reggie Wayne today and he said, you know, when you let Alec come back, don't bring him to me 80%, 85%, whatever, like bring him back to me at 100% when he is totally

ready. And I mean, I'm sure that's what they intend on doing. They've gone this entire offseason without him. So yes, do they want him by week one? Absolutely. but what's another in their eyes another like a few days or whatever but i'm optimistic that he'll hopefully be out there tomorrow and at least for the optics of it you know just meet that timeline for Shane to say yeah hopefully he'll be back this week you know because they all already kind of

swung and missed on chris ballard's timeline which i was shocked about if there's one guy with the Colts that doesn't like to prematurely designate things or anoint anyone or do this or that. Like, he's really kind of struck out a couple times with declaring things this year. One of them being, we think Alec will be back in a week or two when he said that at the very beginning of camp. So I was pretty surprised that that didn't transpire in that manner for Chris Ballard to say that. But for Chris to say that, and now for Shane to show finally optimism rather than just being wishy-washy about it, I've got to imagine he's right around the corner. That kind of fits the

timeline. The original four to six months after the surgery put him really anywhere coming back from the beginning of training camp into September. And we know he has ramped up his rehab a bit more in the last two, three weeks. So I think it's certainly on the timeline for him to be. You know, back, if not tomorrow, as soon as possible. Well, if you poll most players, they would tell you they don't need, they could do without three out of the four weeks of training camp. But if they are honest, they will say training camp is necessary. It's necessary because you build a tolerance through training camp.

You know, the first day of practice, you wear that helmet. Your neck is sore for a week because when you trained in the offseason, didn't have a helmet on. And that extra 10 pounds makes a difference. But you also, you have to go through the dog days of camp where you lose your legs and then you regain them again. And when you regain them, you have that tolerance that you can go through an entire season. So I often am concerned that with Alec Pierce, when he does start playing, he's going to look good first couple weeks.

But he still hadn't gone through that period where he hits that wall and everything is stiff and he's got to rebuild his tolerance. So hopefully he can work his way through that. We still got plenty of time. You know, and so, but you, you, it's necessary because, you know, there's some timing aspects that you want to get down. There's some things that you, you know, once you start playing, you remember again. You, you remember idiosyncrasies of how you, you know, run a route that is going to be favorable or unfavorable to a quarterback, you know, there are certain signs that a quarterback knows, okay, he's turning now. I can put the ball before he makes the turn because I know that one little movie

makes he's ready to make his turn. Those type of things that you get in training camp. And it's unfortunate that he had to have this injury right when he got paid, you know, because the pressure is going to be on him to, you know, not only. produce, but I mean, he's got to be, he's got to justify that money. Because if he has some bad games, oh boy, the people are going to start yelling and screaming. Why'd we get rid of Michael Pittman? You know, and so I'm sure that in Alex's eyes, it's not pressure. It's only a challenge. It's an opportunity, you know, but I just know from,

the amount of time I played that the practice is necessary. Yeah, I think I've learned to take some of Stuyken's post-game, post-practice, you know, news on certain players, kind of with the grain of salt, some nice little head coach speak. I do believe there's been, you know, maybe a little bit more reassurance of like, okay, this week, this week. I know that there's also been all those, you know, those clips of the Alec Pierce walk out on Twitter and all that. And there's been some Twitter doctors out there saying that this, to me, this looks like some high risk compensation injury. Who knows? Who knows there? I know they have

till Sunday to make the PUP decision. But, you know, I think at least from my perspective and what I, what I'm around, who knows, who knows when he'll be back and healthy. But to me, like, my bigger question was, what does it look like when he comes back? Like, a little bit of bit building off of like what Alan was saying will there be a little bit of rust maybe some sort of snap count or you know him kind of getting into the the athlete routine of practicing getting used to certain movements and stuff like that and and also what Alan said with the expectation of you know pitman's gone and Pierce gets this this absolute bag he's got some high expectations here even with the Keenan Allen signing and specifically like skill set

wise in the wide receiver group like he is the deep ball guy so if we're going to have like you know maybe and maybe i'm off base here but maybe if there's a little slow ramp up and like we'll get through that and stuff obviously i'm just hoping he's back as soon as possible but that's a big aspect to me as well of that deep game that deep ball game missing a little piece if we get some of that Yeah, and I think at the end of the day, we can argue about where he slots. He's one of the five most important players on the team. And I think you can argue that he's the second most important player of the team. I mean, that's how much I think that he is critical to their success,

if they're going to have any in 2026, they need to have a healthy and effective Alec Pierce. And he seems to be a pretty mild manner type guy doesn't get too hyped up and things like that, but I don't care who you are. After you get paid like that and the expectations ramp up and maybe, Alan, you can speak to that a little bit. That's got to be on your mind a little bit, right? Where you're trying to fight your way back and you're trying to get healthy because you want to prove that you're worth the money. And there's just that little extra pressure. I mean, maybe in a positive way, you can say a little extra drive, but also in a negative way, maybe a little bit of extra pressure that you put on yourself because you want to, you know, Will, you said you got the

bag. Now you want to show that you deserve everything that you ended up getting. I write and saying that, Alan, I mean, did you experience that as a player? Yeah, I mean, whenever you make more, number one, you can't let it go to your head and think that, okay, well, I'm that good. They're paying me this much. I think what has to happen is you get paid that much more. You got to work a little bit harder so that, you know, you justify why they paid you. And you do sort of put more pressure on yourself to make all work.

World plays. But you also have to remember this, you got paid because of the way you play. So don't change the way you play, you know. But you do feel a little pressure to make some of those splash plays. If they're going to pay that much, they want to see some splash plays. So if there is anything, any area where you sort of go outside yourself is to try to make that all world play. but that all world play is going to come if you just play the way you have been playing and you know your body's going to react in the time it needs to react to make that all

world play i hope i answered the question no i mean that's you bring the player's perspective on here i'm just i'm just guessing that you want to press a little bit and uh i think you show that that was the right guess because at the end of the day you know whether you're a professional football player or not, we're all human, right? We all have, we all have brains. And when you go through all of this and, you know, the pressures of life and things like that, regardless of what you're doing, I can understand what, what Alex Pierce is going through right now. So hopefully he gets healthy, gets back and comes through. The Colts decided a player who appeared in every game for them last season and started most of them wasn't good enough to make it to roster cutdowns. That topic

will lead our squad squibs when the Colts Squad Show returns for a final time next. Back for a final time, Colt Squad Show. Appreciate you being here for our Wednesday. Don't forget Saturday's preseason finale. Guess what to do right after the game. Don't go outside and go to the pool or, you know, fire up the grill. I guess you can still fire up the grill and still fire us up on the Colts squad show. We are your home for Colts post game shows every single game after every single one this year. So lock it in here on Locked on Colts after every game,

including Saturday's preseason finale against the lines, we'll get going around 430 or whenever they end up wrapping up. But guys, as we get into our squad squids, which is what we always do on our midweek show, to just kind of wrap up sort of our news and notes portion. The McCoy Blackman cut, Jake, it's kind of one of those things that, like, it felt surprising. And then when you actually look at it, honestly, it's probably the least surprising thing because, you know, and I want to be kind here. I think he helped the Colts in a pinch last year, right?

And I think he was okay. I know that there were some lows that were associated in there. But I think all things considered, he was a decent play. and could have absolutely been a reserve on this team. But he was actually even worse from what I saw in your reports and everybody else's reports in the joint practices than he was in the games. And that's saying something because he was awful in these preseason games. And I think the coach just looked at him and they said,

hey, like, we just can't continue like this. Yeah, I think, you know, based on merit, it was a good move for them to make. They do have some other guys on that roster that they like. you know, Jalen Jones, I don't think they see him as a very good scheme fit, but he's performed better than Jonathan Edwards and Mackay Blackman. And honestly, Rob Carter Jr., defensively, has left a lot to be desired. In practice, he's made a lot of plays, but in the games, it's not been great. But on special teams, he's a guy that I think they're eager to give a role to as well. So one guy is out of the competition now with Blackman.

And I think the bigger issue, not just giving up catches, but in the first preseason game, it was two DPIs on the first drive, which is crazy. And then he gave up one on fourth down in the end zone in week two, which is crazy. Like just even worse. You know what I mean? And so not only crushing calls, because we know DPIs are spot files. You can get 46 yards on a DPI. And so for him to give them up in the manner that he did, being a veteran, was just egregious. And so, again, I said at the top of the show, I didn't really think the Colts would do it because I thought they liked it more than that.

But just, you know, that's accountability right there. You know what I mean? and they don't even really have he was he was one of their key pieces of depth at corner it takes a little bit of a hit without him they may look to add somebody on waivers during roster cuts early next week um because rob carter junior is not necessarily a guy you want a roster i don't think and then jalen jones has performed well but that doesn't make them like him anymore. You know what I mean? So they made a move that they're going to have to have another kind of reactionary move with it. But they did it because they know that they can't really afford

to have guys out there making mistakes like that. And you couple that with like last year the freak stuff where he would fall down in coverage, gave up a 90-yard touchdown against the Rams, gave up like a 40-yard completion or whatever it was, I think against the Broncos. Like he just has caused too many problems, whether it's a freak issue or a penalty or whatever it is, like you just got to kind of move on from guys at a certain point like that. So do they now need to make some sort of follow up move at corner? Probably, especially you consider Cam Taylor Britt is going to be suspended week one. Like they need to have more depth at corner.

But I respect the fact that they, made a move they felt they needed to make. Well, look, you can be as credentialed a player there is, but this league is all about what have you done for me lately. And every player knows this. You know, you always want to leave a good taste, not a bad taste. And it's interesting, I was going to ask the question. What did Mackay Blackman, who gave up that touchdown against the Rams?

You know, and that memory sticks in your head. You know, so you can forgive, but you don't forget. And the way you forget is you come back and make plays, but he wasn't making plays, you know. He was getting DPI's. And so I'm sure Lou Anirumo is over there thinking, okay, I need somebody I can count on out there. And I know my horses are,

on the sideline because they're hurt and stuff, but I need somebody with some kind of reliability, damn it, because everything you do is on film. And so if they kept Mackay Blackman, then when he came in the game, you can imagine quarterbacks would be like, oh, 29's in the game, check, check that play. We're going right at his ass.

Because if we don't complete the pass, we're going to get a pass interference. Yeah. And I'm not trying to be mean to the dude. It's never fun getting cut. I was cut before. Didn't feel good. And I think when I got cut, I probably earned that mess.

But Mackay earned this one because you always want to put yourself in a position where you're improving or getting better or you're showing the coaches that, you know, you're going to be an asset and not a liability. And I think, unfortunately, in this preseason, And he showed that he was more of a liability than anything else. Yeah, and I just think, you know, you have to have guys that all coaching staffs hate penalties. But it just feels like this coaching staff especially hates penalties. And he just, there was just a lot of laundry.

It wasn't just the bad play. It was the fact that he was either getting beat for a catch or he was committing a penalty and sometimes giving up a catch anyway. And so they just felt like that they ultimately had to move on. Moving away from the Colts news, because I don't think that there's anybody on their training camp roster that this would pertain to. But there's been a lot of talk over the last week or so about these situations with some of these 22 players. And if they get cut in an NFL training camp, then deciding to return to college. And I think that was the case with at least one player at LSU.

There have been some others that have been talked about with this. We've seen the Big Ten, the SEC, and I believe. the Big 12 did it today that put out statements that they have unanimously decided to not allow players that have signed professional contracts to come onto their teams. And I mean, Alan, I actually kind of wanted to start with you on this because I think anything that you would have told me the last couple of years, I guess I would say I wouldn't be surprised. Like once the Ed O'Bannon floodgates opened with the name image likeness, I'm not saying that was the only one that thought this, but I think we could have predicted that the money situation

would be where it is right now with college football and the NFL and the loosey-goosiness of the whole thing. But, you know, this idea that you could get cut from a training camp roster and then go back to college, I mean, even I'm kind of like, that can't happen, right? There's no state. We've reached the point of no return. And I think the NFL's probably thinking themselves, hey, man, like, we're not going to, you know, have this thing where one of our teams trains your guy all off season long. And then he goes back to Baton Rouge. whatever, like I can understand when the NFL wants to protect its own interests here, too. I was totally baffled, but you got to remember it was a judge in Louisiana who came up with

the ruling and it was going to benefit LSU. So, you know, the thing that sort of is remarkable to me is number one, some guys can make more. college than they wouldn't approve, especially some quarterbacks. You know, so they want to stay as long as possible. And I think, you know, the five years of eligibility was really supposed to be, you got to play four out of the five. I mean, the five years was just in case they redshirted you, you know, so I need some clarity there.

But I think that that the same. decision and in some schools going to grab these players has left a bad taste in people's mouths to where the conferences sort of had to put their foot down. You know, because some people think that college football is a semi-pro league now. And if you can get cut from the NFL and come back to college, then that was a little over-the-top. And, you know, we would all love to play as much as we could possibly play. But sometimes that mess is just over, done, move on to the next thing. And, you know, I think about if they bring these guys, you know, back from the NFL to have one more year of eligibility,

what's happening to some of those freshmen or what's happening to that junior? who's been a backup, you know, for two years, and then maybe has a little bit of hope that he's going to get some playing time, but no, they bring this guy back from the NFL, and this guy gets cut from the team. You know, so there was a lot of just a feeling of unfairness that, you know, a guy could come from the NFL back to college. You know, that, to me, just didn't make any sense.

but some schools are so desperate to have, you know, NFL talent on their team that, hey, if it's, if it's allowed, then they're going to do it. Because let me tell you something, if LSU didn't sign the guy, somebody else was going to sign them. You know, so I think that the conferences had to make a stand because this was a really unpopular decision. And, you know, to all the traditionalists, it just infuriated people. So sometimes, you know, legislation by a conference is in reaction to what the fans think,

because a lot of times conferences don't care what you think, but in this case, they did. Last squib. I'm sorry, I was going to say, I think it's good for the. conferences to step up and give some sort of structure because like obviously the whole thing is out of control and like at the end of the day like I understand they're trying the ultimate goal was it was to like give college players some power and everything but it stopped being college football long ago and just basically started to become another business like you can't have these like guys who've been in college seven or so years just coming to play with

kids are supposed to be college kids and like going back and forth there has to be some sort of repercussions or stakes for just going back and forth like that's just not how life works it should not be an option to just be able to do whatever so i do like that the conferences have stepped up and said hey at some point we got to put a wall up here just saying if you want rules um NFL has this thing called a collective bargaining agreement um just saying just just going to throw that out there because I think we're we're hurtling faster and faster towards that. I mean, to me, that's just, that's what the NCAA doesn't want, but there's just, you can't have an organization with rules that you can't enforce.

And that's essentially what the NCAA has right now. Last thing here, because we got final 90 seconds, the last quib. But I'm only kind of bringing this up because they are an opponent. They're the penultimate opponent of the year, the Cleveland Browns. They named a Sean Watson the starter. And, you know, he's five seasons removed from the last time when he was even a decent NFL quarterback. I guess the question is, Jake, what are the chances that Deshaun Watson's actually still the starter by the time the Colts play them in January? Probably slim.

Like, I know there's a lot of money at stake with, you know, the, oh, I'm sure ownership in the front office probably wants a little something. They don't have any good, like, starting quarterback options. Like, Shador leaves a lot out there to be desired. But, like, Watson is polarizing, toxic and bad. like there's no like there's no redeeming quality it infuriates your fan base because like that that fan base a lot of them sold their souls to to support that guy when the trade happened and now that he has given them absolutely nothing but bad attitude and bad play basically they've all there's there's no supporters left it benefits them not at all to have a crappy quarterback who's that toxic

as their leader. Even Shadur with what he lacks in his game is better than that. He's a circus in his own right, but I think that's a circus I would rather ride with than the other one. Yeah, and you know he's cooked, whereas with Shadur, at least there's like that very slim chance that maybe there's something there. My question, it's a lot,

is there any part of Todd Munkin that's like it's a lot easier? Everyone knows what Nishon Watson is, who he is, how he's played the past X years, the money he's gotten, how much the fans hate him. Is there any part that's like, well, we have these two guys that, you know, they're both struggling, is it a lot easier to move on from Watson to Shador real quick as opposed to from Shador than Watson? Let's give Watson his couple of games, see how he plays. Then we can let the fans be happy to move off of him. I don't know if that's some sort of thought process.

I think that is precisely the move that he sometimes a blessing is a curse, you know, that they're putting them out there to fail so that when Shador comes in, then, you know, the fans will have a resurgence of support for the Browns. But I also, my own personal opinion, think that it's an ownership decision. It's like, if I'm paying this dude this much, much. money, he ain't sitting on the bench. He's going to come out and he's going to play. So that's how I view it.

Thanks so much for joining us on this latest edition of the Colts Squad Show. We are your place for post-game Colts reaction. Our Colts squad shows will follow each and every Colts game this season, including the preseason, which includes this preseason finale coming up here on Saturday. So keep it locked over here for that. And our midweek show will stay at 930 on Wednesdays all season long. So make sure to update your calendars there. Don't forget to keep it locked on Jake and Zach every day.

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