Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - DOMINANT: Indianapolis Colts' Daniel Jones SILENCES Critics (Including Us!)

Starting point is 00:00:00 Daniel Jones silences his critics in week one for the Indianapolis Colts, including your two favorite Locked On Colts co-hosts. Let's get to it. You are Locked-on Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast, part of the Locked-on podcast network, your team every day. Thank you all for tuning in and making us your first listen of the This is your daily podcast covering your Indianapolis Colts, part of the locked on podcast network, your team every single day. And today's episode is brought to you by GameTime. Download the GameTime app, create an account and use code Locked on NFL for $20 off of your first purchase.

Starting point is 00:00:45 Hello, everyone. My name is Zach Hickshire Resident Phil Nerd of Horseshoe.com. And my partner, Jake Arthur, is our credentialed boots on the ground. No longer for Horseshoe Huddle. So, Jake, you want to shout that out to everyone here listening? Absolutely. Absolutely. So I am, after five years, I have left Colts on SI. I'm now with Roundtable Sports, working full-time as their Indianapolis Colts Beat Rider. So I'm still a Colts Beat writer. I'm still, nothing really changes with me there other than I have more time to do that. A lot of you guys have asked what changes with the show. Again, nothing. and Zach and you guys still have to deal with me other than now I probably have more time to dedicate to the show and everything that surrounds it. So, yeah, I mean, nothing changes for you guys other than you probably get a little bit more of me.

Starting point is 00:01:33 So apologies there. He is still the boots, boat shoes, crocs on the ground, just no longer for the same site as me. So don't worry that that moniker is still sticking for Jake, just a slightly different destination for Jake's content. But make sure you guys are checking out his written work over there. Today we have a action-packed show for you guys. We're getting into our post-game thoughts on Colts and Dolphins, but more so our day later removed from the emotional aspect of the game. If you want our full emotional breakdown with Alan Pinkett and Derek Schultz,

Starting point is 00:02:04 go check out our squad show from yesterday right after the game. But we're going to talk all about Daniel Jones, the Colts offensive line, and this Colts passing defense, pretty much the three stars of the game for the Indianapolis Colts. But Jake, let's get into this Daniel Jones game, because in our wildest dreams, we didn't imagine Daniel Jones coming out here and looking the way he did on Sunday, completing 75% of his passes for 272 passing yards, 9.4 yards per attempt, actually a pretty healthy average depth of target as well, around 7, which again, slightly lower than like the average, but like that's 7's fine. I can live with 7 for Daniel Jones being average depth of target, one passing touchdown along with 7 carries for 26 yards. and two touchdowns targeted seven different receivers as well.

Starting point is 00:02:54 So Daniel Jones came out here and just had an outstanding debut. Jake, what did you see from Jones that really call your eye and maybe made you say on Sunday like, oh, maybe this thing could work out for the Colts? Yeah, man, I know. So we came into this game saying Jones and Stuyken have to approach us the right way because Jones has to, he has to prove why. stike and picked him and that is with the the veteran quarterback moxie type of thing you know everything he does pre-impose snap getting guys in the right spots making the right protection calls getting all

Starting point is 00:03:30 the checks and stuff and he did that and way more i i thought he pretty much dismissed any of the big concerns we had i thought he attacked all areas of the field all depth uh you know he took at least a few shots down field. He wasn't just dinking and dunking. You and I thought he would just get absolutely glommed on to like Josh Downs and Tyler Warren. Now Warren did still get targeted eight times. I think seven catches.

Starting point is 00:04:00 That's a sign of things to come, which we'll get into more as this show goes on. But he spread the ball around so much. You mentioned seven different receivers. And Alec Pierce wasn't phased out of the game playing. Like A.D. Mitchell was a little bit involved as well. So this was so, so positive. I don't have any real gripes. Like there's a couple things I made a little, you know, mental notes about.

Starting point is 00:04:28 But if he's, I don't want to put him to this standard every week because this is like pro bowl, all pro level stuff we're seeing here. So he gets a little grace to come down to earth a little bit. Like it's not always going to look like this. Like the dolphin secondary is a garbage fire at the moment. and they continue to get hurt throughout the game. So, like, there are going to be challenges. Like, this week against Denver is an awfully good defense with a really good secondary in Patrick Soutan and Nick Benito up front.

Starting point is 00:04:58 But so I think Jones was absolutely excellent in everything we could have asked for him to prove. But just to kind of put out there the issues, I guess I had. So when he's running, I do think he's still, got a little bit of that renegade in him where he's not going to say die he didn't really take any like significant hits but there was a couple times where it's like get down daniel get out of bounds daniel like he looks like he could open himself up to some big shots sometimes so i think he's probably got a slider get out of bounds a little more willingly and then there was probably two or three times i noticed where on just really quick timing routes uh where like you're going to your first

Starting point is 00:05:43 like immediately when the ball is snapped essentially he was throwing the ball before he had really seen where it was going to go and that almost got him into trouble a couple times if the defender would have been in the right spot or paying attention uh there was a couple times you know there's i think tyler warren had one like right out like a flare out where the corner was right there to just smother it right away jack jones i think it was so it was it was mostly really really really good with just a couple small things I would want to, you know, kind of address moving forward. Yeah, one thing I want to say about Jones is in a lot of ways, the type of game plan they had for him was a lot of what I expected. You know, they actually didn't run him as much

Starting point is 00:06:23 as I thought out. I mean, they had seven rush attempts, but I think four of those were scrambles and three of those were QB sneaks. So we didn't really see a true design QB run game or like the read option involved in this attack. But in terms of the play action and RPO, game. This was exactly how I expected the Colts to utilize Daniel Jones. And I was pretty intrigued by that process, you know, very Gardner-Minchu-esque in terms of just how much the reliance was on RPO and play action. They had a 39% RPO play action rate in this first game. That would have led the league last season. And I expect them to be top two, three, four this year in play action, especially if their offensive line performs the way they did on Sunday for the rest of the

Starting point is 00:07:08 season. They're going to be running play action a ton this year. But my biggest question I had for Daniel Jones is how was he going to perform on those three, four, five plays a game where he really has to put the offense on his back, third and 10, second and 20, first and 10 after a turnover. Can he deliver those big plays down the field, push the ball past his comfort zone and be the difference for this Colts team? And what we saw on Sunday was when he had those opportunities, he mostly delivered. I mean, you look at the two plays immediately after Dolphins' turnovers.

Starting point is 00:07:42 The deep pass to Alec Pierce was his best throw at the day. The deep pass to A.D. Mitchell was a fantastic throw as well. Second and 20 backed up near the red zone. He delivers that touchdown to Michael Pittman, Jr. Early in the game, first and 10, that out and up to Tyler Warren.

Starting point is 00:07:58 So every single time he had to make a big play and keep the offense moving, he made those opportunities and he made those happen. And those are going to be the differences for this Colts team going forward in terms of scoring 17 points in a game or scoring 25 plus like they did this past weekend. So as long as he can deliver on those, again, three, four, maybe five plays a game where he really has to step in, drive the ball down the field, and push this offense forward

Starting point is 00:08:25 because, again, this offense is going to be so predicated on we're going to be in third and four. We're going to be in third and three, fourth and one opportunities, and we're just going to convert with our quick passing game, our RPO's, and our running game. but when there are opportunities where they are wanting to take a shot or they're going to be back in third and 10, third and 11, third and 12, can Daniel Jones push this team forward? And what we saw on Sunday is he did. He did. So, you know, I have my little nitpicks as well.

Starting point is 00:08:50 And I'll go over them in a second here too. But for me, that was the biggest thing. That was really the biggest thing for me is can he be a difference maker on those couple plays? And he was in this first game. So that's why I would give him an A plus for how he performed because he controlled the game. high success rate, high just keeping the ball moving and avoiding the negative plays, and then he delivered on the couple opportunities that he really needed to make something happen. But in terms of my couple little nickpicks, I think my two biggest ones would be,

Starting point is 00:09:21 I think he needs to be a little bit better on the RPO game. The RPO game is a bit of a concern for me in terms of just setting his feet and then also making the right decisions there. There were a couple that were a little off. And then my other one, which is kind of my biggest concern with him, that I'm really curious to see how it looks against the Denver Broncos is I want to see him really push the ball down the field a little bit in the middle of the field. The middle of the field, he didn't really have any targets past 10 yards.

Starting point is 00:09:48 I thought there were a couple opportunities in this game where he could have driven the ball a little bit more, but he seemed to only feel comfortable driving the ball outside the sticks or outside the numbers to the outside where it's like a less danger area. So I'm curious to see if that's going to be a trend with him this year or if that was just, I don't need to take that risk against this Dolphins team because we're already controlling the game. So again, if those are my nickpicks after a game where he threw 75% of his passes, almost 300 yards,

Starting point is 00:10:15 a couple of hours and a touchdown along with a couple of rushing touchdowns, I don't really have many complaints. Daniel Jones was a big asset for this Colts team, delivered when he needed to and got the job done for the Colts. So if we see a lot of this the rest of the season, then he's going to be, you know, the starter next year as well. and maybe for a couple years after that. So as long as he can continue this

Starting point is 00:10:37 and just stack good games, this Colt team is going to be in good shape this year. Yeah, I totally agree. And I wanted to address Colt fan here. So I think it would almost be unfair to expect him to perform to that level every week. Because again, this was like almost elite level stuff that we were seeing.

Starting point is 00:10:57 Like there's going to be tougher matchups that come about. And I don't want it to seem like I think he's going to, like he's not going to be good most weeks that's not it because like he answered a lot of the issues i had he even changed protection twice and got them into big plays a 21 yarder to warren and then the fourth down conversion to downs he changed the protection on both of those plays he did an excellent job there i just think like it would be unlikely for him to be like a first or second team all pro like there's going to be some bumps in the road here I don't want to hold him to this super high standard every week as all.

Starting point is 00:11:34 I think he can hit the standard that he played on Sunday, but statistically I don't think it's going to look like that every week. You know, 10 yards per attempt to be an MVP caliber season. Yeah, that's wild. And 75% completing your passes would be like the most of NFL history. So he's not going to hit that, but I think in terms of the way that he played on Sunday, I certainly think it's just bounces will go for you and against you on a week-to-week basis. But I think quality of play, he can match statistics.

Starting point is 00:12:00 It's going to be tough to match that statistical output. That's a really good statistical output he had at week one. Yeah, I'd agree with that. No, would you look at that? We've gone late on a first segment. So coming up, guys, you know, kind of what powers the entire offense to be as effective as it is as that offensive line. And that was another area we were kind of concerned,

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Starting point is 00:14:52 in the pocket, and I'm like, all right, the guy can have a tea party back there. Like, there's absolutely nothing coming his way. This offensive line is keeping him clean. In the second half, with the Colts nursing a huge lead, it ultimately led to them carrying the ball 40 times, which they felt comfortable enough doing. If Shane Seichen's not comfortable doing something and it's not working, he's going to bail. We know that. And so this offensive line allowed the Colts to just run out the game and kill things in the

Starting point is 00:15:20 second half. One sack, 40 carries for 156 yards and a couple touchdowns. Pro football focus was thought very, very highly of their performance as well. The Colts offensive pass blocking received a grade of 86.5, which was number one in the entire NFL. Their 69.8 in run blocking was number five. So so far, their blocking is top three in the NFL right now through the first week. Of course, there are 18 weeks in the regular season, so there's a lot to change, but got Daniel Jones passed a huge test week one, as did this offensive line, which we were pretty worried about at least the right side of it. We need to clarify something here, Jake.

Starting point is 00:16:02 You were worried about three players on the Colts offensive line. I was worried about one and a half. Okay, so I'll apologize to Brayden Smith for being worried about him and for half of being worried about Matt Consolvis. You apologize to all of Gonzalez and Tanner Portaulini going into this game because I was, I had full faith in Tanner Bordolini, and I had some decent faith in McInazolese. I felt like I sounded more optimistic about Bordellini, but no, I had true, true questions about Gonzalez and Smith. Yeah, so let's start with Gonzalez, though, because I, right before we got on here, I was spam watching the film because you guys know how excited I am about getting a new young guard to watch and evaluate this season.

Starting point is 00:16:42 And this was better than anything I could have expected in week one for McInsolves. everything that I highlighted in the preseason in terms of like hey he's really good with these jump sets I think some of his angle sets you know we see some issues here but the jumpsets are fantastic in a game plan where the Colts had 39% of their plays the play action or RPO we saw him getting into that jump set so often and he was just dominant in it he was outstanding even the couple reps he had against Zach Seeler he looked like an outstanding pass blocker on them had a couple really good plays with his eyes where he picked up late blitzers and protected Daniel Jones. Weirdly enough, his best overall rep of the game came on Jones's worst rep with that near

Starting point is 00:17:24 interception to Michael Pittman Jr. in the second quarter. But yeah, Consolvis was great at right guard. Bordellini, I think the pass blocking was a little bit more hit or miss, but it was still really good overall, but his run blocking was really strong in this. So those two young players were great. And then Braden Smith, who, again, I was legitimately consistent. concerned about it, right tackle, especially with the rotation that the dolphins had coming off of the edge room, Judon, to Chub, to Chop Robinson, to Jalen Phillips, like, that's a pretty good

Starting point is 00:17:55 edge room right there. Brad Smith was probably better than Bairnard Riemann and pass protection. I know that PFF didn't have it that way, but from what I saw, that's kind of how I would have graded. I thought Smith was just really, really strong on the game and was really aggressive as a pass blocker as well. So this Colts offensive line in the passing game in particular was really good. And look, if the Colts want to be this team who's going to do play action on 35 to 40% of their plays,

Starting point is 00:18:23 you know which team led the NFL last year in play action rate? The Detroit Lions. And you know why they let it in play action rate? Because of that offensive line. The best offensive line in football, top three offense line in football. We also see the Eagles around the top five up there as well. So the teams with great offensive lines can run this type of. of offense the Colts want to run.

Starting point is 00:18:43 And if these guys perform like this for 17 weeks, the Colts are going to be a playoff team. Like, if the offensive line is performing at this level, they're going to be a playoff team. So we need to see it continue. Really big matchup coming up against the Denver Broncos with Zach Allen, Nick Benito, like a really good defensive line here. If they can continue it here, I'm going to fully believe in this offensive line going

Starting point is 00:19:05 forward. I also, I want to open up the four to you to talk about a couple peripheral blockers as Well, Tyler Warren had an absolutely elite grade. His run blocking was crazy. And then Jonathan Taylor, I saw you post, like, this might have been his best performance in pass pro, which, holy cow, did the Colts need that? Because this is a guy, you never want to take him off the field, but he's had deficiencies in pass pro before. He's not always got the surest hands, but he looked like a totally complete back on Sunday. Yeah, I really want to put that out there for Jonathan Taylor.

Starting point is 00:19:39 This was the best I had seen him being more than just a runner in the NFL from making those catches out in space and creating after the catch to his pass blocking was awesome. I was so shocked watching it last night just seeing how often they kept him in to protect, especially against blitzes. And the Colts were aggressively picking up a lot of these stunts and twists, but Taylor was like getting mixed up in the past blocking department, easily the best game I've ever seen from him as a pass blocker. he was aggressive, he was physical, he was assertive, like everything that you want to see from a running back in past protection. He wasn't perfect because no running backs are in past protection, but as long as you are giving the effort in being physical and in understanding where you need to be with your body, that's all you can really ask of a running back in past protection. And he did his job at like just perfectly, especially again on these play action

Starting point is 00:20:29 plays. If you want to be a play action offense, your running back needs to understand past protection and needs to mix it up when these linebackers are fitting hard on play action bites and they're going to just keep coming because they can't be caught in no man's land running back needs to pick that up and taylor had a great game so i'm glad you shouted that out because taylor as a pass blocker in this game i thought he was out saying i didn't see what his pff grade was in it but but it was really really strong game for him for a guy who again according to pf he consistently gets like 20s in past protection throughout his career like i'd be shocked if this was anything below like a 60 or 70 like above well above average um i was really

Starting point is 00:21:09 impressed by taylor in this game yeah and they don't need them to be perfect in that department you know like you mentioned kind of i feel like 60 70% of pass pro is just knowing where it's coming from seeing it and at least getting in the way like you don't have the stone wall and just see where it's coming from and affect them in some way uh so those were just there were so much so many good things like hang your hat on and get optimism about moving forward that have been issues before that didn't appear to be issues in week one. So that's just one of them. And one thing that was just absolutely excellent on Sunday was the Colts past defense,

Starting point is 00:21:45 literally like from all three levels. They got contributions, even from the defensive line. So we're going to talk about that in just a moment. The NFL season is back. And honestly, there's nothing better than being in the stadium surrounded by fans, cheering on your team. But let's be honest, getting tickets can be a. a huge hassle between the queues, the login screens, and prices jumping at checkout.

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Starting point is 00:22:56 So again, download the GameTime app, create an account and use code locked on NFL for $20 off of your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, that's promo code L-O-C-K-E-D-O-N-N-FL for $20 off. Swipe, tap, ticket, go download game time today. All right, welcome back every dayers. We are talking about this Colts 33 to 8 shalacking of the Dolphins on Sunday. Their first week-one victory in a dozen years, wow, it is hard to say that, but Zach, you're welcome. I did say that they would break that, so that obviously means week four.

Starting point is 00:23:33 They're getting the W in Jacksonville. But, you know, one of the biggest, the scariest things about Miami coming in. I didn't think Miami was, like, a great team by any means. But I was like, at the end of the day, the Colts have beefed up the secondary, but they still have to face Tyree Kill. They still have to face Jalen Waddle. And Tua is crazy at the beginning of the season. But they made him look like a scrub on Sunday,

Starting point is 00:23:58 a 114 yards passing just a 5.0 yards per attempt. One touchdown that honestly came later in the game, two picks. His QB, his ESPN QBR was 2.7, which I've got to think is among the lowest of his career, if not the lowest. And his just classic NFL pass rating was 51.7. He was also sacked three times. So the Colts were on it. And for me, I thought one of the most unique best takeaways of this was, was you hope to get sacks.

Starting point is 00:24:30 You hope to get takeaways and interceptions and everything in these games. But the interceptions they got, one of them was from Laiatu, Latu. Another was from a guy you paid handsomely forward and can't bind him. And then the sacks you got, two of them were from defensive backs. So it really showed the versatility of this defense. And I thought Anirumo was just crazy in his back in this game. Oh, my gosh. It was so much fun to watch.

Starting point is 00:24:58 Jake we were talking about how wrong we were in the first two segments but we were we were hyping up this secondary and this cold's defense all off season and they proved everyone right in this first game what what is showing just from louis and rumo this coaching staff and the players on defense with that just infectious energy out there they were flying to every single ball made some really nice tackles in the open field and then making plays and getting their hands on the football in the passing game i mean cameron bynum and charverous war look like the big signings that the Colts needed out there. It was just great to see.

Starting point is 00:25:32 But to talk about Lou Anirumo here, he clearly had a plan of attack for Tua. And it was, we are going to clog the middle of the field as much as possible. And we're going to just make him hold onto that ball a tick longer than what he wants. And we talked about this in our, in our pregame show where I was saying, like, you know, the Colts D line is a big part of this because Lou's going to make him hold the ball a little bit longer. Can the Colts finish and get Tua on the ground? and I mean, I don't even think the D-Line really had to because Lou just had Tua in just absolute hell in this game. Every single thing that Tua wanted to do was just not there.

Starting point is 00:26:09 And even when you look at the plays where like the players were open, for instance, like the first interception, Tyree Kill was open, but Tua rushed that throw because Nick Cross late was late getting out there and cutting off the inside of that route. It made to a second guess it, not step into it, and he sailed it to Cameron Bynum. some really cool wrinkles were thrown in there too. Like, Layatulatu and Quiti Pay, I think combined for like seven coverage snaps in this game. So what we really saw from Lou was he wasn't concerned about Tua scrambling whatsoever. So he was just all about creating diverse pressure looks by rushing four, but a different four guys every single snap.

Starting point is 00:26:46 And then making sure that he had at least two hooked defenders on every single play. So when they were in zone, you were getting two hooked defenders. And it didn't matter if it was two defensive ends. as your hook defenders, to linebackers, to safeties, a safety and a linebacker, a safety in a defensive end. It didn't matter who was there in the hook. It was making sure that he was changing that hook defender as much as possible to make to a second guess that middle of the field read.

Starting point is 00:27:11 So he didn't know who was dropping into that hook. So it made him second guess like, oh, I'm seeing my guy break open, but I know that linebacker came on the blitz. Somebody's going to be in that window and who is it in that window. And again, that's just that extra tick in the NFL. I mean, Tuo has led the NFL in years past with like a 2.2, 2.3 time to throw, and he had 2.6 on Sunday. So it's not the craziest jump ever, but just making that that 0.3 difference is all the difference in the world for NFL defense. So that's where we saw him really make his mistakes.

Starting point is 00:27:44 Again, Bynum had his near second interception, clogging up that middle as a hook zone defender. Latu got his dropping as a hook zone defender. So it was a really fun defense. you know, and we always use the S word with Gus Bradley, static, right? We use static so much with Gus Bradley. Pre and post snap, we're going to be static. We're going to do what we do. The last thing that Louana Ruma was on Sunday was static.

Starting point is 00:28:08 There were guys moving pre and post snap like crazy, just making sure Tua did not feel comfortable with what he was seeing whatsoever on the field, and it led to great success for this Colts defense. So I think there are some things to clean up. You know, you want to see the tackling be a little bit better, the past coverage later in the game. game could have been a little bit crisper, but overall, for everything, this defense has gone through this offseason, losing Hunter Woller, losing Justin Wally, Juju Brent's not making the team,

Starting point is 00:28:34 Jalen Jones going down with another injury. It was an A-plus performance from this defense and pass coverage. So as good a start to the season as you could hope for from a new defensive staff, this was just fantastic. Everybody was in their bag on defense on Sunday. Yeah, absolutely. And that, you know, you mentioned something that we need to talk about here moving forward, But first, like, for them to be clicking as well as they were early in the season, especially when there's so much more mentally to have the process as a player, that's a really great sign. Because we saw, like, with Gus Bradley, even a simpler defense,

Starting point is 00:29:09 it took them at least a few weeks to really get used to things. And guys didn't start looking comfortable until, like, the second month of the season. So if this is what we can expect, week one, from a really dangerous passing attack, I'm all in. but you did mention Jalen Jones so today Shane Steichen spoke to us in the media he did announce that Charberius Ward is in the concussion protocol now that's not a foregone conclusion that he'll be out this Sunday against the Broncos but like most of the time when they have a guy come in on a Monday and report symptoms they don't always play so he's got to ramp up practice

Starting point is 00:29:45 involvement from a limited and then by the end of it he has to get in like a full participation or like be able to show that he can absorb contact has to get cleared by an independent neurologist. So like there are steps now that Ward has to get through. We'll we'll see what happens as the injury report develops throughout the week. But that'll be tough. We saw he left the game briefly, which with what appeared to be an arm injury and Mackay Blackman came in for him.

Starting point is 00:30:12 So if he has to miss the game, we'll probably see more Mackay Blackman. And that might make Jonathan Edwards an active player as well, rather than. than a scratch. So we'll see. And then Jalen Jones, he didn't play any defensive snaps, but got in for like six or seven special teams ones. He re-injured that hamstring that kept him out for a few weeks earlier in the summer.

Starting point is 00:30:33 So both times that he went down, it looked not great. Like normally if someone pulls a hamstring, they hop off the field, this or that, but like he had to lay down and be looked at by the medical staff both times. So just my instinct tells me they might want to be a little more precautious with him, moving forward before he gets out there

Starting point is 00:30:51 so I would doubt that he'll play on Sunday but the injury report hasn't come out yet but yeah the Colts could be a little short-handed in the secondary on Sunday yeah Jones seems like he's in for the season from hell that like Caitlin Clark is having right now with the fever where it's like comparable impact on indie sports

Starting point is 00:31:09 yes very comparable obviously but but I think just like I think it's a good comparison just in terms of like Clark just could not get that I think it's our hip that keeps getting banged up this show growing or something yeah maybe it was growing but yeah it just couldn't get healthy every time you try to get back out there it just couldn't get healthy and i think we're kind of seeing that with jones where he finally got back from that hamstring injury and then immediately into action it just

Starting point is 00:31:33 got pulled again or whatever happened uh i think the best thing to do is just again do with the fever or doing with clark where it's like just shut him down until it really cleans up i mean they have jonathan edwards they feel good about they have some guys in the practice squad that they like I think it's, I think it's, be in the best interest of him and the team. He's still a young player. Still, what, 22 years old, 23 years old. So let's not push him out there and injure him anymore. Let's get him ready for the rest of the season or for next season, even.

Starting point is 00:32:02 The Colts still have him under contract for another year. So very unfortunate for Jalen Jones, but sometimes these happen to athletes, man, these types of seasons. In regards to Ward, you know what, it's going to be tough for him to play, which will be tough for the Colts this upcoming Sunday, With, you know, the Broncos coming in, their passing game's not great, but, you know, you still want to have all hands on deck for every single, every single game. He would have been such a good matchup for for Cortland Sutton, who the Colts didn't have a lot of answers for in that last matchup. Yeah, so it's going to be big on Xavier Howard. Blackman will probably get the start on the outside, and then it'll be Jonathan Edwards being that third guy that might rotate in.

Starting point is 00:32:39 So it could be an interesting matchup for the Colts. I'm curious to see how they would approach it, but, you know, we got to just see how this week. goes here. It's a bit early to really dive into that next matchup, but to just kind of close the book on this Colts-Dauphins week, what a start to the season. Everything I wanted to see from this team in week one, they imposed their will, they played their style of football.

Starting point is 00:33:00 The O line and the D-line both had really strong games. The secondary and Louana Rumo did their thing. It was a fun, fun showing. And, you know, I said a lot, this off-season, Jake, that I can't believe in the Colts winning a week one game until they show me they can actually do it. Well, they finally did it. They finally did it.

Starting point is 00:33:17 So I have no room to complain anymore about it there. But that is all we have for today, guys. We want to thank you for making Lockdown Colts your first listen today. And every day, the NFL season is finally here. So if you're next listening, get a double dose of the locked on NFL podcast. Tyler, the Madman, Roland gives you a shot of espresso to start your football day while Tony Wiggins takes you into the barbershop for the smoothest breakdowns to end the day. Find Locked on NFL on YouTube where we list to your podcast.

Starting point is 00:33:42 If you guys want to become a locked on Colts insider and chat with us directly and get that insider scoop, Follow the link in our show notes. And if you don't already, make sure you're following out Locked-on Colts at Jake Arthur and a film at Zach Hicks to all on socials. Also subscribe to us on YouTube or wherever you listen to your podcast. We love your guys, ratings, reviews. And we'll catch you guys back here tomorrow afternoon.

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