Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - INDIANAPOLIS COLTS CAMP, DAY 11: Daniel Jones, Justin Walley Put Their STAMP On the Red Zone

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Colts were back on the field for the first time since their preseason opener, and it looked like Daniel Jones was trying to make up for lost time. 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. All right, welcome to Locked On Colts on the Locked On Podcast Network. I am your host, Jake Arthur, the Indianapolis Colts beatwriter for Roundtable Sports. and today we are catching you up on day number 11 of Indianapolis Colts training camp.

Starting point is 00:00:39 That's right. We are nearing the end of the road here for training camp. And the Colts were back at it, back at Grand Park. After taking a little jaunt out to New England last week, they did one joint practice last Tuesday with the Patriots. And then they had the preseason opener on Thursday. Now they are back in town. I'm kind of putting a bow on the final week of training camp here. And we've got a lot to get to.

Starting point is 00:01:04 So let's go ahead and just start out with the list of guys who weren't present. So wide receiver Anthony Gould, he was out, apparently an injury. He was out of the preseason game, and we didn't know if that was because he was secure in his spot on the roster or just what that was. But it appears to now be an injury. We'll learn more about that from Shane Stuyken later if he is still out. Mooney Ward remained out with his back. He's now missed the last two practices. running back DJ Giddens with a hamstring.

Starting point is 00:01:35 He's now missed the last five. Linebacker, C.J. Allen with a hamstring, has missed the last five as well. Some new injuries out there. Guard Jalen Farmer. Offensive tackle Luke Tanuda left Thursday's game with a knee. He was not out there on Saturday. Offensive tackle Nolan Rucci and defensive tackle Derek Nadi. This is the second time that Nadi has missed practice with an injury.

Starting point is 00:01:59 So we'll see what's going on with that. before it was a toe, now we don't know what's going on. But clearly some pretty impactful injuries in there. So Brian Mason was back. Obviously, at the very end of the game on Thursday, the special teams coordinator got his knee rolled up on, looked like a terrible injury, and he did reportedly suffer a serious injury there with torn ligaments.

Starting point is 00:02:23 So he was there. He was out there coaching, had a huge brace on his left knee. So total Ironman there and Brian Mason. Some more housekeeping. The Colts did work out some free agents. Quarterback Mark Grinowski, cornerback Jalen Gullabo, and veteran wide receivers, Josh Reynolds, Traquan Smith, and Equanimia St. Brown. You've probably heard of all three of them, but I'll be real, none of the three of them have really been all that relevant in the last couple years.

Starting point is 00:02:52 So it's still interesting as to why the Colts are not really kicking the tires on perhaps more impactful receivers. They're just going for these guys who are just perhaps a step above camp bodies. But I digress. Maybe at some point that will change. The Colts released tight-in Sean McEwen from Injured Reserve with an injury settlement. He suffered a shoulder injury a couple weeks ago.

Starting point is 00:03:21 So with all that out of the way, let's talk about the actual practice on the field Saturday. So it was an hour-long practice. They were out of pads with it being the first. first day after that they were practicing after their preseason game on Thursday. The focus was on the red zone, so they weren't, you know, they weren't spreading it out and doing the whole thing. It was kind of overall a low impact type of practice. Going with quarterbacks, Daniel Jones was seven of 13 passing.

Starting point is 00:03:51 Early on, he wasn't, it wasn't necessarily him as much as it was what the defense was kind of forcing the Colts passing offense into. Jones was under pressure a lot. He was having to throw the ball away a lot. Later on in practice, they started to get settled in a little bit. He went seven of 13 with five touchdown passes to Tyler Warren, Josh Downs, Ashton Doolin, Lequan Treadwell, and running back Seth McGowan. During seven on sevens, he had another touchdown to Lequan Treadwell as well.

Starting point is 00:04:23 So what I really liked about that was you saw Jones continue to kind of take off and avoid pressure. There were a couple sacks, which we'll get to shortly. But he wisely threw the ball away, which is something even in practice that may be super boring, but you do need to simulate that. But he spread the ball around as well. Those five touchdowns during 11 on 11s were to five different guys. So that was pretty impressive to see. Riley Leonard was the first one up with the second team reps.

Starting point is 00:04:53 He was five of eight with touchdowns each to Raylan Sharp and Ulysses Bentley. If you're keeping track at home, that's Ulysses Bentley. He's probably like fourth or fifth receiving touchdown at camp. He's clearly showing to be the Colts best receiving back at this point. He's been someone that each quarterback, really all three of them when matched up with him, have looked his way. Anthony Richardson was five of seven, so just a tick below Leonard when it comes to pass attempts. He had two touchdowns to Raylan Sharp and another to Ulysses Bentley.

Starting point is 00:05:29 So both Leonard and Richardson were looking the way of Sharp and mentally early and often. Richardson also in seven-on-sevenths through touchdowns to Coleman Owen and Will Mallory. So Mallory kind of continues his hot streak as well. So the quarterbacks I have found in the red zone, they definitely have some of their hot days. They did so against the Patriots on Tuesday as well. The reporting out of there made it sound like all three quarterbacks did relatively well. well later on in practice in the red zone finding plenty of guys each on on touchdowns. Interestingly enough, I felt like there was way more passing touchdowns in the red zone

Starting point is 00:06:11 drills on Saturday than there were rushing. So that's always interesting to see. But I expect the roles on today's practice to kind of flip a little bit when it comes to Richardson and Leonard. So Leonard just got a little more of the action in an extra pass attempt yesterday. now it should be Richardson. After today, they'll have two days off. So Monday and Tuesday, they'll get back to it Wednesday and Thursday. That will be the two joint practices against the Atlanta Falcons at Grand Park. That's the final two games of training camp. And then they will have

Starting point is 00:06:47 the preseason game on Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium. So that is it for injuries, roster moves, and quarterbacks to this point. Coming up here in just a moment, we will discuss what was seen from the offense. All right, guys, running a business should not feel like you're trying to connect a bunch of systems that were never designed to work together. You got one app for accounting, another for inventory, another for sales, and somehow none of them seem to actually talk to each other. But that's where Odu comes in. Odo is an all-in-one business management software that brings every part of your business together in one powerful platform. From sales and accounting to inventory and marketing, everything works in one place, helping your team move faster,

Starting point is 00:07:31 stay organized and focus on growing the business instead of managing software. The best organizations know that success isn't just about talent. It's about having everyone working towards the same goal. One kind of common thing in mind marching forward. That's true in sports just like it is in business. I mean, look at what the Colts decided to do this offseason. They knew it was a pressure-filled off-season. They have to win right now.

Starting point is 00:07:58 They really couldn't afford to go and totally flip things. over and make a bunch of huge moves that kind of needed to rely at least offensively on continuity. So they re-signed Daniel Jones. They re-sign Alec Pierce. And you can tell it wasn't just a reactionary move. Like that was deliberately their plan. It's what they have conviction in. And, you know, a lot of organizations, you know, at least that mindset helps them be successful. It comes with mixed results like we've seen with the Colts. But when you stick to it, you see the results usually because everyone works from the same playbook. Great organizations win because operations matter,

Starting point is 00:08:34 and that's why you should get O-D-O-D-O-D-com slash locked-on. That's O-D-O-O-O-O-O-D-com slash locked-on. All right, welcome back, gang. Before we move on to what else went down on the offense besides the quarterbacks, don't forget to check out the Everydayer Club for ad-free audio and access to a group chat with other listeners of the show, as well as Zach and myself. Just tap the link in the show notes or go to LockdownColtz.

Starting point is 00:09:01 Supercast.com to join today. All right. So I mentioned at the top of the show with the injuries, you know, Jalen Farmer was out, Luke Tanuda, Nolan Rucci. So you're probably wondering, hey, who was out there playing offensive line for the second and third teams? So let's go through that real quick.

Starting point is 00:09:18 The second team offensive line, Blake Freeland at left tackle. Left guard was Jimmy Morrissey. Center was Dalton Tucker. Those are all pretty standard. We see that a lot. Right guard rather than Jalen Farmer. it was Gino Vandemark, which we have seen at times. Vandemark and Farmer rotate in and out at right

Starting point is 00:09:37 guard. The last week or so, it's been way more farmer than Vandemark, but it's somewhere we've seen Vandemark before. And then Josh Sills, who has inside outside flexibility, was the second team right tackle yesterday. You see him way more inside at guard, which is where he fits best, but just kind of in a pinch. They needed him to play a little bit of right tackle yesterday. for the third team offensive line at left tackle it was byron matos left guard jimmy morrisi center josh cruz again all that's pretty standard uh right guard geno vandermark and then right tackle matt gonzalves that's right the colts starting right guard uh kind of getting to flex that muscle a little bit at tackle which i think is wise he had to do it because of injuries but he is

Starting point is 00:10:25 someone who can go and back things up at tackle when needed i mean he was the Colt starting right guard last year, but we saw him have to fill in it right tackle for a game before. So you never want him to have to be out of position because you want your offensive line healthy, but I think it is wise to just, again, kind of continue to flex that muscle, keep, you know, kind of cross-training and keeping him capable of playing in multiple spots so that if he does have to go out there in a pinch, it's not like he hasn't done it in X amount of time. Looking at some skill position.

Starting point is 00:10:59 positions. Josh Downs had a pretty productive day. Again, a couple touchdowns there with Daniel Jones. He did have a little bit of an injury scare there for a second. So Jones threw him a ball that Downs had to leap for over on the left side of the end zone right near the sideline. And Downs went up and caught it, really acrobatic catch. But the way he landed on his foot, it's almost like he like buckled his leg or something. It just was like a really awkward landing. And you couldn't really tell if he was celebrating or just like jogging gingerly after it. But he ran off to the side and was clearly trying to like walk jog this injury off. He was very uncomfortable clearly. He came out of that series. Did not return that series. But the next time that the Colts first team offense went out

Starting point is 00:11:49 there, he rejoined them and he actually caught a touchdown right away when he did so. So So hopefully all is good there with Downs. I don't know if they will sit him out today or not just out of precaution since they have two days to rest him coming up before they go ahead with the Falcons. But yeah, Downs has had a great summer. A couple of injury scares, obviously missed a couple days last week or a week and a half ago with the groin. But as long as they can keep that guy healthy, I think the passing game will be perfectly fine. looking at the running backs behind Jonathan Taylor. There continues to be pressure put on DJ Giddens without him being out there.

Starting point is 00:12:31 Like I mentioned, he's missed about five practices now with a hamstring. Even when he was out there, he was not having the best camp of his life. He had dropped a few balls early in camp. Had to begin to kind of smooth all that out, got better with his ball security and not dropping the ball. His running was looking pretty fine. Like he had a couple of decent runs, but we would be lying to ourselves if we said Seth McGowan and Ulysses Bentley haven't proven that they are a lot more appealing options behind Jonathan Taylor.

Starting point is 00:13:04 I do think that DJ Giddens, there's some good qualities to him. I think if Jonathan Taylor got hurt for a couple weeks and you needed to give DJ Giddens like 15 carries a game, I think that would wind up looking fine. I think he could be productive in that way. But if you're looking for very specific, just niche roles behind Jonathan Taylor, because, like, Jonathan Taylor, you're going to give him 90% of the carries at running back, right? So if you're looking for just like a guy to get short yardage, pass protection, catch a ball on third down, just these very small roles where you can't throw a ton of resources at one guy,

Starting point is 00:13:43 I think McGowan and even Bentley are so much better suited for that. I think with Giddens, you need to give him a bigger workload for him to really be productive. Because we haven't really seen that he could be a capable, like third down running back, who can pass protect, who could catch the ball consistently. So I think the momentum really, really, you know, it already was going in Seth McGowan's direction. But I think a lot of people are starting to get more on board with Ulysses Bentley as well. And he also plays special teams. So the arrow continues to point up for those two backup running backs. We'll see ultimately what the Colts do.

Starting point is 00:14:23 Maybe they want to show Giddens a little bit of grace and be patient with him because they really believe in his upside. But upside can only get you so far. These other two guys are on the field and performing really, really well. And then the final offensive note I've got here is on Will Mallory. Obviously, had an awesome day on Thursday night in the game. Six catches, 80 yards, led all players. in that game, had another touchdown again on seven on sevens, like I mentioned with Anthony Richardson here. He just continues to be Mr. Reliable. And again, I think he is someone who's kind of opening

Starting point is 00:14:58 some eyes this summer. He has a good camp every year, every year that I have, that I have watched him, maybe not rookie year. I can't recall him, you know, moving the needle that much in 2023 during his rookie camp but 24 25 now in 26 this guy is one of these standouts of camp each summer and i think it's to the point now where everyone's like all right this guy's clearly talented he really struggles to be active on game days though what can you do i think if if you're a forward-thinking offensive mind like Shane stuyken like jim bob cooter and all those guys you just got to figure it out i don't i don't think you can have a player that's this talented, just kind of rotting on the sideline because he doesn't block well

Starting point is 00:15:44 or because he doesn't play a bunch of special teams. Like, I think you just have to figure it out, especially when you're so short-handed at receiver right now. You have Alec Pierce out, you know, you've had injuries. I mean, they're back now, but Josh Downs and Treadwell, like you've experienced some really shaky receiver depth this summer. I think it would be wise to incorporate a guy like Will Mallory, figure it out. and now before the season starts.

Starting point is 00:16:12 So when, if something does occur during the season, it's not flying by the seat of your pants. You have a plan for what you can do with Will Mallory, or it doesn't matter if he's not an elite blocker or is going to play 20 special team snaps a game. Like just figure out how to get this talented player on the field because it is beneficial for your team, even if he has deficiencies. They all do. So just because his is something, like, you already double up on blocking tight ends. with Moe Alley Cox and Drew Ogletree.

Starting point is 00:16:42 I just think there are certainly ways you can get Mallory involved. I think having him and Tyler Warren on the field at the same time, I think it certainly presents an interesting challenge for defenses because you really don't know which tight end it's going to. You know it's probably a pass, but it could go to Warren. Warren could be used as a decoy where you now have Mallory 25 yards down the field open down the sideline. I just think there's, it's so much more.

Starting point is 00:17:09 of a benefit to have a guy like Mallory on the field than to just, again, having him rot on the sideline because he's not a complete player. You know, there's those debates all the time, but we'll see if they change their viewpoint on what he can bring to the team this season. But certainly he's doing his part, having a really kind of standout summer as a pass catcher. All right, coming up next, guys, we've got some defensive notes as well. A couple of these guys playing in different spots and just some young guys, again, with an arrow that is just continued to pointing up. All right, Locked on Colts is brought to you by Fanduel.

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Starting point is 00:19:20 Daniel Jones was under pressure, under pressure a lot. He had to throw some balls away. Well, Atulatu, Atu was providing a lot of that pressure. I had him with two sacks early on in the day. There were some other guys, like I thought Tommy provided some pressure at times. Let's see, I think Wooden got around at least once, making Jones kind of shuffle his feet. And then with the second team, you had some younger guys. I thought Caden Curry continued his hot streak a little bit,

Starting point is 00:19:47 providing pressure both inside and out. Curry was actually really interesting because he also was activated as like an emergency long snapper as well. We'll get to it in a minute. But a guy that has multiple talents, Justin Wally, I thought had a really big day. So remember, this was the red zone. So every pass really matters. He had three pass breakups in the red zone against Laquan Treadwell, and he was playing outside on Saturday because with Mooney Ward out,

Starting point is 00:20:21 they just moved Justin Wally to the outside in that spot for Ward, and they put Cam Taylor Britt in the slot where Wally would normally operate. So I thought that was pretty impressive. Linebacker Bryce Betcher had a nice pass breakup in seven-on-sevins. The ball was humming right for the end zone, and Betcher got his hand in there to break it up. Let's go ahead and talk about some more special teams here. So if you're like Zach and I, and you're being nerdy and you're keeping track at home of who's getting the bulk of what special teams work, because it is indicative of who's actually going to make the roster.

Starting point is 00:20:56 Here were the gunner reps, Jonathan Edwards and Cam Taylor Britt, who I imagine that is your first team gunners right now. I think that's really what the Colts are leaning towards. Again, Jonathan Edwards and Cam Taylor Britt. Rob Carter Jr. and Dionne Burks also got some run there. Mackay Blackman and DJ Montgomery, Raylan Sharp and Eli Pancoll, Jonathan Edwards and Samir Higgins was another duo. You got Rob Carter Jr. and Dionne Burks again, Raylan Sharp and Eli Panckel, and then Jayante McMillan and E.J. Horton Jr. was the final duo at Personal Protector.

Starting point is 00:21:34 Normally it's Jonathan Owens who sees the most of it, but today it was Hunter Wooler, Daniel Scott, Ben Nicol, and Nick Westbrook Akeena. So that's interesting. You had two receivers out there, especially that's the first time I'd seen Akeena doing it. Coleman Owen was the punt return of the whole time, but they weren't actually having him return punts. They just needed to field it. So it was almost like a glorified install.

Starting point is 00:21:59 And then long snapper, as I mentioned, they worked in some emergency long snapper stuff behind Luke Rhodes. Caden Curry got in there and Drew Ogle tree got in there. So if you ever see Luke Rhodes get injured, pretty good chance either Kate and Curry or Drew Ogletree are going to go in there. For my money, it looked like Curry was maybe a little more polished there. Ogletree. It took a little longer for the ball to get to the punter. And I think he actually had a bad snap on his first one as well. So Katie Curry drew Ogletree, emergency long snappers, perhaps they were at least getting the opportunity to kind of compete there and show

Starting point is 00:22:34 what they got. So that is it for Saturday's practice. Here in just a few hours, there's going to be another practice at Grand Park number 12. I will report for you guys later tonight on that one. We'll have a little short video at the end. I'll do my notes over at Roundtable Sports and we'll have a full-length episode as well. I might have Zach join me for that one. So thanks for listening to me Yap about practice number 11. Now, don't forget the Locked-on NFL Top 100 is here.

Starting point is 00:23:04 It was voted on by the NFL hosts of the Lockdown Podcast Network. and our top 100 was formed by those experts that cover these teams and players every single day. So find the full list over on Locked on sports today on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcast. We also released a show talking about the players that did make it, the Colts players that made it, and the ones that didn't and perhaps who should have made it. So make sure you check that out if you didn't already. Follow at Locked on Colts at Jake Arthur, NFL, and at Zach Hicks 2 on social media. and remember if you never miss an episode,

Starting point is 00:23:38 then the Everdare Club is built just for you. Get us ad-free, plus a members-only Discord access, and more. Just head to locked on colts.supercast.com to join the club today. And with that, thank you guys again for joining us, and we'll be back with you later for practice number 12.

Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - INDIANAPOLIS COLTS CAMP, DAY 11: Daniel Jones, Justin Walley Put Their STAMP On the Red Zone

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