Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts fall to 0-3 for the first time in a decade + Marlon Mack requests trade

Episode Date: September 29, 2021

On today's episode, Evan is joined by George Bremer of The Herald Bulletin to recap the Indianapolis Colts' 25-16 loss to the Tennessee Titans. After Indy's first 0-3 start in a decade, is it time to officially hit the panic button?We also go over Tuesday's breaking news revolving around Marlon Mack. The Colts and Mack have mutually agreed to seek a trade after barely being used the first three weeks. How should we remember Mack?Closing out the show, Evan and George preview Colts vs. Dolphins. Will Indy notch their first W in 2021-22, or reach a whole new level of lows in Miami? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You are Locked On Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello everybody, welcome into your latest episode of Locked On Colts, or the Locked On Podcast Network. Today's always your host, Evan Seder, joined by George Bremmer, the Colts Bureau for the Herald Bulletin. George, how are you doing on this Tuesday night, as now the Colts are 0-3 for the first time in a decade?

Yeah, unfortunately I was around for that last 0-3 start, so it feels a little bit different than this one, but never really a happy place to be yeah absolutely I can't imagine we were talking about this last week on the show but I think we're reaching DEFCON levels on social media with some Colts fans right now and it might get even worse on Sunday if they lose to Jacoby Bursette the Miami Dolphins in Miami the season will probably be on the line at that point on Sunday when the Colts and Dolphins face off we'll talk about that later on the show show and preview the game. But let's first go over the Colts' loss in Tennessee, dropping the 0-3 this year for the first time since 2011. They lose 25-16 to the Tennessee Titans.

What was your biggest takeaway from that game, George? I guess the first one to me, honestly, was Carson Wentz because I knew Wentz was going to be pretty immobile back there, but it looked to me almost like he was less immobile than what we saw from Phillip Rivers last year. I know he was a statue in the pocket, but Rivers can move around a little bit side to side. Carson Wentz could barely move at all in that game. Do you think it was the right decision, George, for them to play Carson Wentz on Sunday? Yeah, and I think that says a lot about the two backup guys. I think that's the real problem.

There's no doubt that Carson Wentz was incredibly limited. I think the play that really set out the most to me was late when he kind of started to scramble and caught himself and sort of made a decision like at the last possible second to pitch it out to Naheem Hines instead. And it goes down as an incomplete pass, but it just showed the hesitancy and the indecision on his part. He had to play a style that was completely foreign to him I mean he can yeah he can do things from the pocket and and he can play that style but that's not what makes Carson Wentz Carson Wentz and I think everybody's well aware of that he wasn't able to even you know

roll out in the pocket at all I think he made maybe one time I can remember where he made like a little sidestep to the to avoid the the rush, but he really couldn't do a whole lot to get away from that Tennessee defensive line. And I think I wonder too how much it affects his balance. I go back to me, the biggest, most important play in that game was right towards the beginning of the third quarter. They drive all the way down inside the 10-yard line trying to take a lead, and he missed Michael Pittman Jr. in the end zone, and Pittman had done his job, gotten open. And I just wonder how solid was his base. When you've got two bad ankles, you know,

are you throwing off the right platform? Did it affect throws like that? I don't know. There's no doubt he was limited, but I think the fact that you still have more confidence in that version of Carson Wentz than you do in Brett Hundley or Jacob Eason says a lot about the backup quarterback situation right now. Yeah, most certainly. Brett Hundley leapfrogged Jacob Eason on the depth chart. Eason's down number three after he took all the reps in training

camp when Wentz was out with his injury. And Hundley obviously has the veteran presence there, but I think it says a lot about what they think of Jacob Eason right now. But are you concerned at all, George, about this ankle injury? Because I imagine Carson Wentz isn't going to be magically 100% anytime soon. The Colts bye week is until week 14, three months away almost. Are you worried at all this could be the situation for Carson Wentz where around a 75%, 80% Carson Wentz tops. He looked like he was more 50% on Sunday.

If he even reaches that point, George, are you worried about how Carson Wentz is going to be looking behind this Colts team? Because he's not going to be himself that we saw the first two weeks. Yeah, and I'm worried about further injury because, you know, he keeps taking hits. I think 10 more quarterback hits on Sunday. That's 31 through three games.

He's obviously less able to prevent that right now. He's confident. We'll see what he says tomorrow. But on Sunday night, he was confident that the injury had improved so much over the course of last week. And he feels like that's going to happen again this week and again next week. And pretty soon it'll be back to a spot where he can deal with it, and we'll see. But, you know, you have to be worried. He's definitely limited. And then, like I said, you wonder, you know,

not so much re-injuring the ankle, although he did re-aggravate it apparently late in the third quarter Sunday. But, you know, something else happened. You take this many hits, a shoulder's going to be a problem, an elbow, you know, a wrist. Something else becomes an issue, and it's related to him not being able to protect himself. Obviously, they feel like he's, you know, got enough equipment right now to at least keep himself upright, but if it's not a concern, I don't think you're paying attention. Let's hit on Frank Reich from the game on Sunday.

I think a lot of Colts fans took away from that game, kind of cursing Frank Reich's play calling, especially with how immobile Carson Wentz was. They threw it 37 times. They ran the ball 16 times with John Taylor, 9.9, averaged five and a half yards per carry on those situations. More yards per carry than it was yards per attempt for Carson Wentz on Sunday. Obviously, they had to throw a little bit later in the game because they were down two possessions by nine points, but what was your assessment of Frank Reich's play calling on Sunday, George, and especially in the red zone now where the Colts are worst in the NFL once again, four of 11 in red zone situations converting to touchdowns?

It's now almost three years at this point, George, where the red zone offense is starting to become a real concern for this team. What's your assessment on what's going on with Frank Reich's play calling and especially in the red zone where it really has cost in the first weeks of the season yeah I mean obviously it needs to be better I mean he said that himself and I think it's just it's you're all in three and I couldn't point to one area of this team right now that should feel good about how it's done whether it's coaching any aspect of coaching the the play calling, you know, every level of the offense, every level of the defense. I couldn't point to one unit, one group on this team and say,

they're absolved of blame. You know, you're 0-3. Everything has gone wrong so far. You're not playing good football. You're not calling good football. You're not executing good football. I think it's across the board. And I think, you know you know Sunday I asked him yesterday

do you feel like when you went back and watched the tape that there were some opportunities to run the ball that were missed and you know you talked a lot about and it's honest on this part of it they didn't have the ball a lot in the first half they weren't executing well no matter what they called in the first half and they they only ran 23 plays, which is going to limit the number of runs you can get. They did run the ball well early in the third quarter. I thought that was their best drive. They couldn't finish that drive, which goes back to your question about the red zone.

And then after that, I think they got away from the run faster than they needed to. I mean, there were circumstances there. They had two runs to start. When they got the ball back down 14 to 13, that's the drive that I thought was most, like, that's the one I think you would most want to go back and change some of the way you called it. They had two runs to get 14 yards.

You're starting to kind of chug again. They caught a play-action pass, which James Lofton said on the broadcast, hey, this is a spot for that. And Paris Campbell couldn't bring it in. He kind of had to stretch out. The ball was a little low. It hit the ground. He had both hands on it, but it hit the ground.

No one's going to get a catch in that situation. And then the next play, they call a pass, which I think, you know, they've been criticized for running too often on second and long, and I'm sure that tendency played into that call. But you call a pass again on second down. It gets batted down. Now it's third down and long. You don't convert and you punt.

And it just feels like that's a spot where maybe riding Jonathan Taylor a little more. He was hot at that point. It's a one-point game. You know, after that, they're down two scores pretty much the rest of the way. So, four times running out. And so then the pass comes into play. But I think any time you lose, you're going to go back and you're going to be able to look at things like that and wonder.

That drive in particular to me, they just didn't really get much done. And as you look at the results, you wonder, should they have run a little bit more in that situation and kept leaning on their strength? I think the red zone stuff, I think it's happened three straight years. I really think that's the product of the new quarterbacks. We keep talking about that's going to bite them eventually, changing quarterbacks every year.

You know, red zone's usually one of the last things to come as you start to trust all the receivers and learn the offense and everybody learns to play together. And I just think that's what you've seen. Jacoby Brissett actually did really well with it early that year. And then after he got injured, the red zone kind of went away during that stretch where they finished 2-7. It took a while last year to get things going under Phillip Rivers.

It's taking a while this year to get things going under Carson Wentz. I really think it's more a function of getting a new quarterback into the system than it is anything else. But it's something that's got to be – it's one of those things where they need to fix it immediately because I think if there's one area you could point to and say if they'd done this better, that's the one that would have, you know, maybe helped this 0-3 start look a little better. So with the pass rush, George, I want to hit on that for a second

because obviously the defensive line outside the Forest Buckner is really struggling. They have five quarterback hits from Buckner four from everyone else in the first three weeks of the season. It's been really rough sledding for young guys that Chris Ballard bet on like Ben Banigou, Kamoko Ture, Taekwon Lewis, Quiddy Paye re-injured his hamstring on Sunday. So I imagine he might be questionable or even out on Sunday when they play

Miami. Do you think Chris Ballard at all, George is regretting him betting on these young guys at the passers? Cause it, I know the passers was bad last year but looks even worse so far this year yeah absolutely you know and I think this is one of those things a lot of times we we get into the season and then kind of hindsight is 2020 and you you say well maybe this didn't work this is one like people have been second guessing this all all the way you know back to as early as maybe February where people were wondering are you sure that this is what you want to go with you're losing Justin Houston you're losing Denico Autry you're

putting a lot of faith in guys with potential but not much production out there and it's shown up on the field so far you know there were times in training camp where it looked like maybe this will work and there were flashes in the preseason where it looked like maybe this will be all right but as you mentioned you know it's been almost non-existent so far during the the regular season and you know that's this defense everybody knows it it's rushing cover I think that you know the only thing Matt Eberflew says more often than that is assignment alignment key and technique it's the basic tenant of this this scheme and they're not rushing at times they're not covering but the pass rush has been almost non-existent when you face good quarterbacks as they have definitely the first two weeks and i think ryan tannahill's

really played well since he got to tennessee this is the result you know it's hard to stop them in key situations defense having trouble getting off the field. It's adding to the struggles that they're having on offense. I think not having a veteran rusher is something that was predictable about this team coming into the season, and it's one of probably the biggest issues right now with this team. Hey, Colts fans. This is Evan Sattery with an incredible app everyone who buys gas needs to know about, GetUpside. My listeners are making up to $0.25 for every gallon of gas every time they fill up. Just download the free GetUpside app in the App Store or Google Play right now

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to get the 50 cents per gallon cash back in your first tank. That's code TOUCHDOWN right now. Yeah, it really has been a struggle so far for this Colts defensive line. And what was your assessment overall of the defense on Sunday in Tennessee where, once again, I know Tannehill had a couple laps with the interception, but the pass rush wasn't there. The run defense, Derrick Henry later on just kind of got going. The Colts defense sort of gassed out late, it looked like, in my opinion.

Are you worried at all about this Colts defense as well, George, where it's still going to be tough sledding the rest of the way? I think this Dolphins team they're playing on Sunday with Jacoby Bursette might be their easiest matchup for a while in terms of schedule goes. What level would you say – did you say the defense is on a similar level as the offense as far as concern goes for you, or is it more or less than that? Yeah, it's right in that same neighborhood i think in both cases it's a lot of things that little things that they need to tighten up that would fix a lot you know with the offense if you start playing better on third down and in the red zone this

would turn around in a hurry if they convert a few more third downs and they finish a few more of these drives they're scoring a lot more points. They might be 2-1 or 3-0 right now. Defensively, I think it's the same way. They're letting one or two big plays out in every drive. And if you can limit that, if you can get back to where you're not giving up that 30-yard gain, 20-, 25-yard gain, even 12- to 15-yarders at times when it's like third and six, third and seven, and they're giving up a 12- or 15-yard gain, even 12 to 15 yarders at times when it's like third and six, third and seven,

and they're, they're giving up a 12 or 15 yard gain. You know, it's those little areas in there, you start making those plays. And all of a sudden, there's a big change in how you feel about this team. And I don't know where I think on offense, it's easier to project that getting better going forward. Theoretically, at some point, Carson Wentz becomes more healthy. Quentin Nelson becomes more healthy. T.Y. Hilton comes back. The offense gets more together. It just gets better from time together, reps together.

It's easier to project something like that. The defense, most of those pieces are together. You know, they did lose Quitty Pay early in this game. They've had Xavier Rhodes in and out. But for the most part, that's the defense that they thought they would have. So from that regard, to me, it's more of a concern. This defense has played together more than the offense has. It's been healthier than the offense has.

Its results should be better. And they just haven't been there. Let's go real quickly before we dive into our quick Dolphins preview on sunday a must-win game for the colts in miami i want to have some breaking news from on tuesday morning george we heard from adam shepherd espn and tom pellicer of NFL network mentioning that colts running back marlon mack and the indianapolis colts have agreed to mutually part ways so to say they're going to be looking for a trade for mack and i imagine there's no trade that might end up releasing him later on this season because I think he wants to get more playing time.

What's your assessment of that whole situation? Because I have to imagine Marlon Mack probably knew, George, that he would be in a situation where he wouldn't be getting as much carries because they have Jonathan Taylor. They want to get Niall Hines more involved. Do you think the Colts might have just did this to help Mack rehab and then maybe give him a fresh start elsewhere? Because it feels like to me that might have been what the case is here.

Yeah, you know, I thought when he was inactive on Sunday, my very first thought was I wonder if there's a trade in the works. Because normally when a guy's healthy and he's played at the caliber that Mac has played, you're not going to have him inactive unless there's, you know, you're trying to keep him healthy and make sure he doesn't get hurt and you don't get a deal done. I would imagine I've heard there's already, you know, up to four or five teams that have contacted them.

I would imagine there'll be a market. I don't think it's going to be a big deal, probably a late round pick, maybe a player instead, you know, if they could find a team that's deep at another position that, you know, maybe a corner or, you know, a pass rusher or something like that, where somebody's got a similar situation, a third stringer that they could swap for. But I think it's best for both parties at this point. I think there was a real belief in the offseason that maybe they could find a way

to split the carries a little bit to give Marlon Mack a little bit more of a role in this offense. It wouldn't be what he'd had in years past, of course, but I think the thought was you'd find ways to work him in. It would be more of a running back by committee. And it's become pretty clear that this is Jonathan Taylor's job. Really was becoming clear in training camp that this is Jonathan Taylor's job. Naheem Hines is a change of pace guy. And they really haven't used anybody else.

So I think you're just at a point now where for all parties, this is the best thing. Get something for Mack, allow him to go somewhere else where he can try to build the case for a contract next year, and let Jordan Wilkins fill in for whatever, you know, small role Mack would have moving forward this season. Yeah, Jordan Wilkins also plays special teams too. Mack does not do that.

So I think, obviously, Mack, how they want to use Taylor and Hines, it's been really almost a 60-40 or 50-50 split between Hines and Taylor for the carries so far and overall touches so far this season. Mack's role just isn't there. And I have to imagine, just like you mentioned, George, that a trade will probably materialize here within the next week or two. But before we dive into our preview, George, just one more thing on Marlon Mack because in 2018 and 2019, Marlon Mack really was a top 15 running back in the NFL, and he was a bell cow for this offense in 2019 when Andrew Luck retired, like honestly he's pretty high up there in my opinion he's on the level of Joseph Adai in my opinion of Dominic Rhodes where

even at some points he took over games he had 100 plus yard games 150 plus yard games Marlon Mack I think going later back on in history the further we get away from it he's going to be one of the more underrated pieces to this running back group that we've seen in this Colts history yeah I think he's going to be well remembered I mean obviously he doesn't have the history of success that Adai and Rhodes had. He wasn't fortunate enough to be here on Super Bowl teams like those guys were, which is going to make them, you know, just be higher in people's minds. But I think he's the guy that brought the running game back to Indianapolis. You know, Frank Gore had that 1,000-yard season, and it was great to see that. It had been a long time, broke a long stretch there. Mack was the first guy since Adai to really claim this starting job and give you confidence that

you know anytime he got the ball something good was going to happen so I think that he paved the way for Jonathan Taylor here in a lot of ways and I think that he should be well remembered by the fan base for it I think he'll you know hopefully he'll be able to fully recover from this Achilles and he'll be able to finish his career out the way that he should. I think he'll go and play good football somewhere else, maybe even this year. I think he's a really, like you said, he was a top 15 guy. I think he's a really good running back in this league.

I think you get him in the right system. He could still be a star. I just think the Colts have moved on, and that happens. You know what I mean? That's football. They've reached a point now where this is Jonathan Taylor and Naheem Hines' time. And I think, like I said before, I think it's just the best for both the Colts and for Marlon Mack to make this decision now.

Yeah, I'm right there with you, George. And hopefully Marlon Mack, like you mentioned, picks up somewhere else and carries on because he had a really strong start to his career before his Achilles injury in week one last season. But let's go ahead and dive into our Dolphins preview, George. You have to imagine this really quickly. I imagine the answer is going to be yes, but the Colts have to win this game on Sunday, right? Like if they lose to Jacoby Brissett and the Miami Dolphins, then we reach a whole nother level of DEFCON 5 where you might be in a position where you're starting to think about long-term stuff with this team if they do lose to Miami because not only do they not have Tua Tagovailoa starting at quarterback on Sunday,

but if they lose to Jacoby Bursette, it's hard for me to see a win coming outside of Houston in week six for another month or so. Like, this is a really – this is a must-win game for this Colts team if they want to stay afloat at all. Absolutely. You know, I think last week was in a lot of ways. I mean, given the divisional implications and, you know, all the other things that were going on, and then they just didn't –

you know, they didn't have the firepower. They had chances to win that game. I thought the defense did a good job in getting the turnovers and giving the offense some opportunities, and they just didn't – you know, they weren't able to capitalize. And then you do that in this league against a good team, you lose. I mean, that's pretty much as simple as that. I think the Miami game on paper, this is, you know,

the least threatening of the opponents that they face so far. The fact that it's Jacoby Brissett, that he was here, that, you know, that he's the backup quarterback, all those things lead into the Colts have got to go and find a way to win this football game. I agree with you 100%. If they don't, already you're against it in a lot of ways. It's early. There's 14 games left.

I understand all that. But you're in a really bad spot as far as winning this division, going on in the postseason, the things that they wanted to do this year. You dropped 0-4. It's not over obviously um but it's it gets even more difficult to kind of pay you know see the path forward you win this game it doesn't resolve all the other problems but at least you have something to build on and i think that's you know i go back to that 2019 season when jacob rossette was the quarterback here and that's kind of the same feel I have right now I know it's the first 0-3 start since 2011 but to me it reminds me of after

that 5-2 start they got stuck in this this kind of rut where every week the games were close but something would happen they wouldn't take advantage on offense they give up a big play on defense they'd lose a close game and you end up with a two and seven finish and you're not in the playoffs and I remember after that season during his postseason recap Chris Ballard said they didn't have the veteran leadership they needed in the locker room and that became a focus the next two years they need now to show that those guys are there that to me is the big question. Ballard said in 2019, they couldn't stop. The negative momentum had started. It got too strong.

The snowball started rolling downhill. They couldn't stop it. The question now is, can this team stop it? Because this has got to be the week to do it. You can't let this keep going on and on. Like you said, the schedule is still tough ahead of this. You have got to go to Miami, plain and simple, and find a way to win the game. We're back and better than ever. All eyes on the great Irish teams are back on them to start the football season. As always, BetOnline is your number one spot for all the pro and college football action this season. With a new updated site and interface, even more odds, props, and contests,

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reliable prices, all the parts your car will ever need. Colts fans go to rockauto.com right now and write Locked On, L-O-C-K-E-D-O-N, and how's your box box? Colts know Jacoby Brissett better than any other team in the NFL, George. He was on the roster for three years, and you have to wonder, honestly, that what he could do against this Colts defense. I can't imagine it's going to be much because he played last week against Vegas, and it was the same Jacoby Brursette, short

throws, testing the football a little bit deep, but barely much at all. I have to think, George, how would you go up against Jacoby Bursette from the Colts defensive standpoint? Because we saw in 2019, he was a full-time starter. I think if you blitz Jacoby Bursette a lot and make him pressure into some quick reads,

that's where he makes mistakes. Do you imagine that's probably what we see from Nicole Stephens on Sunday, a lot of pressure in Jacoby Brissett's face, not really a lot of zone? Yeah, I would think he would want to speed up his clock. I think that's one of the things that the Titans did a really good job of on Sunday, knowing that Wentz was limited and he couldn't move around, speeding up that clock, getting in there fast, making him make quick decisions, making him get rid of the ball early, not hold on to it, not be able to throw it downfield.

I think those are things, you know, Jacoby gets comfortable back there and he can take his time. Then he can start to make some things happen. You want to make sure that he's not comfortable in the pocket. He is having to make quick reads. And I think a lot of the skies, you know, I think that's one of the things is the the the sort of knowledge in this game goes both ways he's practiced against this defense he's run the scout team for the better part of three years he knows you know where the holes are he knows where where the zone doesn't work where to attack it I think that's another reason why you

have to change up what you do you have to give him some looks that aren't usual, because I think he can take advantage of some things. If you show your normal look, he knows this defense as well as anyone. You know, he's going to know where the weak spots are, and I think you've got to get after him. You've got to be aggressive. You've got to be in his face. You've got to speed up his clock. And you've got to take away the deep ball, you know, which he doesn't look for it very often. Anyway, you've got to force that. You've got to make it, you know, just take it away from the game. Because if he's able to sit out there and pick apart the zone

and throw into windows and get those five- to seven-yard chunks and move down the field, and then you give up a big one it'll be the same result as the first three weeks of the season. Last thing before I let you go here George appreciate the time as always what's your biggest keys in your prediction of the game on Sunday I think it's going to be a really ugly slugfest type of game for either way if the Colts win or lose this game I'm going to go the Colts win this 20 to 13 I think they have the ball late and they get a touchdown drive. But with Carson Wentz being pretty much a mobile back there,

I think it's going to be the same offense that we saw in Tennessee. So it's going to be a really ugly game, probably a lot of ball control with the running game. The offensive line is going to have to really have a good game. Same for the defensive line getting pressure on Jacoby Bursette with four-man rushes if they can. So I'm going to go 20-13. The Colts get off of this 0-3 start.

But if it's 0-4, we're going to be having a totally different discussion next Tuesday, George. There's no doubt about that. And I don't think 0-4 is out of the question by any stretch. It's hard for me to pick this team to win right now for the simple fact that I can't, as I said at the top, I can't pick one unit that I feel confident in, that you say this is the one thing they're going to do well on Sunday. I don't have that confidence in any group right now.

I see potential. I see areas they could do well in, but I don't have that track record, so to speak, anywhere where I can say, ah, the first three weeks, this is where things went well, and they should be able to really take advantage of that on Sunday. I don't see it. It's going to have to be a change from within. That's hard to do in this league on the fly.

I think it's possible. I think they're going to have to commit to the run. You kind of mentioned that already. I think they're going to have to commit to the running game, ride Jonathan Taylor, give Carson Wentz some spots to take some shots, but understand that the offensive line is still not protecting well enough to probably go down the field, especially with him being as immobile as he is right now.

And understand it's going to have to be the quicker underneath stuff the way it was Sunday. It's hard to win that way. When you've got to go 14, 15, 17 as they did in the opening drive of the third quarter plays down the field, it's hard to consistently succeed in this league when you're doing that. They need to find a way to get some big plays, whatever that is, whether that's breaking a screen, you know,

getting a 30-yard gain out of that, whether it's scheming something up to get that shot and still have the pass protection. They've got to find a way to get some chunk plays on Sunday, and they've got to commit to Jonathan Taylor. They've got to let him just run that ball and control the game. And I think the way to do that is to get a lead. They haven't had one all year, not for any amount of time.

I think they've had a real brief lead here and there, but nothing where they were able to sustain it. They've got to get out in front early, get off to a fast start, put the pressure on Brissette, be in his face, make him make plays. You do those things and you win an ugly game. I just right now don't have a lot of faith. I'm going to go 17-13 Miami. I just don't have a lot of faith in this football team at this point. Oh yeah, like I mentioned, if that's the case, George, I think Twitter, your mentions are going to be on fire calling for everyone to be fired by this time on Monday if they do lose in Miami.

Because I can't imagine this start to a Colts season. It's been a very long time, a decade, since they've been 0-3. But George and I will be back on Tuesday to discuss. He's going to be joining us every Tuesday throughout the season here on Locked on Colts. Go ahead and follow him now already on Twitter at GMBremmer and go read his work. Excellent stuff. Always covering the Colts over on the Herald Bulletin. George, appreciate the time today.

No problem. Thanks a lot, Evan.