Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - LOCKED ON COLTS 12/5/19: Injuries continue to pile on the Colts

Episode Date: December 5, 2019

On today's episode, George Bremer of The Herald Bulletin helps go over all the latest Colts news following another disappointing loss to Tennessee. Up first, what's up with all of these injuries? Add Chester Rogers and Kenny Moore to the list now.Also, we talk a little bit more about whether Jacoby Brissett is the long-term answer at quarterback or not. How important are these last four games from an evaluation standpoint?Finally, we get George's primary keys to victory for the Colts before diving into predictions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello, everybody. Welcome back into Locked On Colts, part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Today, as always, we have Evan Satter, and he's going to be our weekly guest on the show, George Brimmer, the Herald Bulletin. How are you doing, George? Good. How are you doing? Doing great. Thanks for coming on.

I appreciate the time, as always, George. Let's talk about the Titans game here for a second, because who would have thought at this point, we were talking last month, George, 5-2, riding high, talking about maybe a first-round bye. For the last five games, now the Colts have lost, now 6-6 in the season. The playoffs seem all but over at this point.

Just how deflating was that loss for this team on Sunday, George? You know, I think it was hugely deflating as far as their chances, obviously, in the playoffs, as far as the way the outside views them. But one thing about this team, ever since Frank Reich's been in here, it really doesn't have that big of an impact in the locker room. But one thing about this team, ever since Frank Reich's been in here, it really doesn't have that big of an impact in the locker room. They understand what it meant. They understand what situation they're in now.

But this isn't a team that really gets too high after wins, too low after losses. I just feel like from a from a reality standpoint this season it feels like a boxing match where one fighter can't defend himself anymore and you just see blow after blow coming and it feels like someone in the corner needs to throw in a white towel right now the the number of things the amount of adversity that's hit this team and i understand that everybody goes through injuries, but the specific people who have been hurt, the positions that have been taken out, it's incredible what's happened to this team this year. Yeah, the injuries continue to pile up here. Chester Rogers as well is out for the season.

They called out Chad Williams today. Who would have thought at this point, George, talking about in the preseason we were first talking about this, with how we thought this YRC record would be really good this year with T.Y., you added Devin Funchess, throw in as well, Harris Campbell, Deion Kane. Kane's not even on the team anymore. He's in Pittsburgh. Now entering into December, in their second game in December,

might be Chad Williams playing a lot of reps, who was on the Cardinals team all of last year pretty much. What does it say about how much this injury is and just how much it's depleting this team right now it's unbelievable I think I saw something earlier today of the 11 guys that were in training camp in August that wide receiver on this roster eight of them are either injured or somewhere else right now which is that right there kind of lets you know everything you need to know. Three guys made it from training camp to now. And, again, like we talked about a little bit earlier,

it's not just that there's injuries. Everybody has injuries. Everybody deals with injuries. You're talking your top three receivers have missed at least, I think, five games each at this point. One of them played week one and has been done since. His season's over uh you lose your return man now your backup slot guy he's done for the year you lose your number one tight end

uh the number one running back's been out a couple weeks in a row now it's it's incredible uh you know how much they've had to deal with and And now you've got a group of four receivers probably healthy for Sunday. We'll see. It could be five if Paris Campbell can go. But three of them are undrafted, guys. And I think that's something that's really interesting. Last week, all four wide receivers were undrafted that were out there in that game. And I think all the active tight ends were undrafted as well.

I don't know if that's ever happened before in the game. And I think all the active tight ends were undrafted as well. I don't know if that's ever happened before in the NFL. So it's really, you're really playing with an offense right now that if you look at it from afar, you would expect it to be like the third quarter of a preseason game, at least at the skill positions. Yeah, that's for sure. Just the amount of injuries to play in this team, it's pretty unbelievable, like you mentioned there, George, just to continue to pile up week after week for this team. And the season really can't come soon enough to end for them as they need to get healthy immediately for next year, in my opinion. But let's talk about Jacoby Bursette here for a minute, George,

because I know you follow Cole's Twitter along pretty closely like I do. The swift change from Bursette being the answer long-term to a player that many want to move on from. I feel like the Titans game, add in the Texas game too, but also on Sunday with the two mistakes he made, I just feel like this fan base really started to run on him. Yeah, and I think that's natural. I mean, I think that's just, I don't think that'd be any different if you go anywhere. If you don't have Aaron Rodgers or Drew Brees or Tom Brady or something like that. Then your quarterback's probably on a week-to-week lease with fan base.

I think that's not been common in Indianapolis, obviously, because of the situation that they've had here for 20 years. But I think it's not that uncommon in the rest of the NFL. When the team's winning and the guy under center is doing well, then everybody wants to keep him and give him a long-term contract and put him up for Pro Bowls and awards and win the team's losing and he's part of the problem. Then everybody wants to run him out of town on a rail.

I think that's the nature of the position. And I think, you know, the last couple weeks, Jacoby hasn't played well. And I think that's the bottom line, you know, especially the last month or so, really, since the injury, he just hasn't made the plays he has to make to put this team in position to win games. How much do you put the blame on just trying to decipher, like, the percentage of blame here between the injuries to the wide receiver core being so depleted, you have no T.Y. Hilton, you have no Funchess,

no Campbell right now, then also throwing that in with Jacoby Brissett being a guy who really needs his playmakers to help him out, but also adding the point that Jacoby himself hasn't done himself any favors the past couple weeks. How do you decipher that, and just how do you evaluate that? Yeah, you know, I think it's tough. There's no doubt you'd much rather like to have a situation where he's had at least one of his top guys out there and, you there and be able to draw a little more conclusions from that. But I think both Zach Paschal and Jack Doyle

and even Marcus Johnson played a pretty good game on Sunday. They're not T.Y. Hilton, obviously. They're not Devin Funches and the chemistry that he had shown through the summer and the start of the season with Jacoby Brissett. Probably not even Paris Campbell and the potential that we've seen from him when he's been on the field. But they were getting the job done. You know, they were absolutely making plays for their quarterback

and making things happen. And I thought the two interceptions against Tennessee, to me, were both kind of really bad throws, you know, bad decisions. If you look at – I think Kevin Bowen had some screenshots of the pocket on both of those at the end of Jacoby's drop. And both times he had a perfect pocket. I know on the first one he held the ball a little too long, which he hadn't been doing really to that point in the game.

But at that point he kind of went back to one of his bad habits of holding on to the ball, let the defender get to him, and then threw it while he was in the grass. I mean, it was just – it was one of those bonehead plays, as Andrew Luck used to call them. It looked like one of those things you saw from time and again from him. But this time, Jacoby wasn't able to come back and answer. You know, usually Luck would do something like that.

He'd get the ball back. He'd go downfield. He'd give you back the lead. It just didn't happen. And then the second interception, it looked like he was just trying to hit Zach Paschal down the middle and overthrew the ball badly. I know that the Titans switched. One of the things they do very well is switch up their defenses,

and they switch from a cover one to a cover two pretty much at the snap and I think that didn't help but it was just a bad throw and and I just I feel like those are situations where Jacoby's got to be better you know especially coming off of the loss in Houston you need your quarterback to not make those kind of mistakes in a game with that much importance. Looking back at 2017, I know it's a completely different team back then, but I'm noticing a similar trait. I don't know if you've noticed this too, George, that I feel like Jacoby kind of fades as we

get longer into the season. Is that a worrisome trait that you're noticing as well? That just seems like the more Tate gets out there on Bursette and more Tate gets out there on the offensive as he's running, the defense kind of get a better grasp of him yeah you know there's definitely in the two seasons that we've seen him as a starter there's definitely a trend there in terms of him playing better earlier in the year and then seeing it tail off there's a lot that goes into this as we mentioned before the injuries to the receivers the injuries to the running back the injuries that tied in the injuries to the running back uh the injuries

that tied in the injury to him you know I think that that played a role too I think for a little while uh in how things were going but yeah it's definitely not something that that you can feel good about uh and at the same time I don't know I guess I I feel like there is an in-between right now. Everybody kind of feels like there's two options. He's either the guy that you build around and becomes a franchise quarterback or he's gone. And I don't know that that's necessarily the case. I think you look out at the landscape right now. I think he's who they said he was. I really do. I think he's the top 20 quarterback in the league.

But when you're talking about a 32-te 32 team league that still puts you under the median and but it also means there's only 19 guys in the league better than him you got to go out and find one of those guys it's not going to be easy to do and I think that's going to be the challenge for for Chris Ballard now is to go and improve the quarterback position, something he did not think he would have to do. Kind of the one thing that wasn't on his to-do list when he took this job is now the most important job he has. Away creates thoughtful products to design a change how you see the world. For $20 off a suitcase, visit awaytravel.com slash locked on

and use promo code locked on, L-O-C-K-E-D-O-N, during checkout. And if you're listening on the go and if you can't visit away right now, you can find this and all their offers from Locked On sponsors at LockedOnPodcast.com slash offers. I'm glad you brought that up, George, because I was just about to ask you that. Do you believe that the quarterback position is the most

important need for this team now heading into the 2020 offseason? Because like you mentioned, if you would have asked me that in September, I would have thought you were crazy because he was playing really well back then but at this point in time I think it's fair to say that quarterback is up there near the top of the list for this team and do you think that Chris Bauer might even use a first draft pick on a quarterback at this point it just seems like it's so in flux these next four weeks might be a really critical evaluation for Jacoba next four weeks are definitely going to have a lot to say about it but you know I think

in and of themselves they won't be they won't swing it too much one way or the other i think it's the year as the whole and what you've seen from from brissette and what you haven't seen you know some of the problems that he had in 2017 are still there as far as anticipation as far as accuracy at times uh you know there there there are issues that need to be worked on and you're going to continue to work on those and i think that's what you're going to see from chris ballard now i think you're going to see a two-pronged approach first of all he's shown us how much the quarterback position means to him in the past when he had andrew luck he still went out he traded for jacoby bursette

because he felt that important about the backup spot and even this year after luck retired he went out he spent the money on Brian Hoyer. And you can debate the results of that, but Hoyer's resume was as big as anybody's out there. It was going out and getting the best available player in that particular point in time that you could do to get that backup spot. So I think he has shown you how much the backup spot

means to him in his previous moves here. Even he has shown you how much the backup spot means to him in his previous moves here. Even going out and getting Chad Kelly the way he did was trying to address that backup spot and keep competition there and drive that position. So I imagine he's going to approach the starting job the same way. I think it's going to be a very heavily important thing. But I go back to what ballard has said in the past

about big money free agents and that there's so much that goes into that evaluation he's going to give somebody a really big deal the kind of thing that's going to get the locker rooms notice then that guy first of all obviously has to have the talent to to record talent to deserve that kind of a contract. But he's also got to fit their scheme and their system. And then he's got to fit inside the locker room. And I think those are the big kind of keys. You look at Justin Houston, he hit off each of those boxes. The locker room has a ton of respect for him.

He's obviously got the talent. He's obviously a fit for what they want to do. I think that's going to be the same criteria for the quarterback could he take a quarterback in the first round yes but I don't think it's going to be necessarily a force it kind of a situation for him I think it's going to be is that guy first of all does he have the talent to go in the first round second of, does he fit what Frank Reich wants to do in this system? And third of all, is the rest of the locker room going to look at him and think it was a good pick? And I think that that's all – it's something that Ballard has made

very clear in the past that's very important to him because he knows that if the locker room looks at it and says, you spent your money on him or you spent your draft pick on him, it's going to erode confidence in the roster. it's going to erode confidence in the roster. It's going to erode confidence in the team. So I think it's going to be a really interesting offseason. I think he's going to address the quarterback maybe in ways we don't expect. I think another position I wanted to hang on with you for a second, George,

is wide receiver because T.Y. Hilton, of course, is still an elite wide receiver. He's got a couple years of elite play. I imagine still left in him. But I think it's just a little tad worrisome to me that he's starting to break down, at least as far as the calf injury, the hamstring, the ankles of last year. Then you added the point as well. He's going to be 31 this time next year. Do you think maybe it's time as well?

We're talking about the choir position. I really feel like maybe the free agency or in the draft in the first two rounds that it might be time to also add in that that alpha receiver to finally go alongside ty help because we've been we've been saying that for i believe since 2012 this colts team has been missing it i true number one one a to one b to ty is one a and i feel like the time is now for that yeah absolutely and you know the good news there is it's deep draft at wide receiver in fact some people think it's a historically deep draft uh with wide receiver so yeah i think it's it's deep draft at wide receiver in fact some people think it's a historically deep draft with wide receiver so yeah I think it's it's the time both in terms of need and it might be the

time in terms of what's out there for the Colts and I think that's going to be another interesting way to see how Ballard changes some of his approach this year I think when he had Andrew Luck and you had coaches like Frank Reich and Nick Sirianni and Marcus Brady, you feel like you can go and bet on potential at wide receiver. And so you can take guys who maybe aren't finished products. Even Paris Campbell, who they took in the second round, they admitted there were some things that he had to work on to become a more well-rounded wide receiver. There were things he could do right away that they really liked.

There were things that they knew he would have to build as he went. And beyond that, you know, most of the wide receivers we've seen him take have either been low range free agents, mid to low range free agents, or mid to low draft picks. And I think that's going to change because I think now that you don't have Andrew Luck and you can't count on your quarterback making the receiver better along with the coaching staff, I think you're going to see him in general try to bring in a more polished,

wide receiver, a more finished product, just as a nature of the way the rest of the roster has changed around him. This is an interesting question I wanted to ask you as well, George, because I feel like this team with Andrew Luck, a quarterback, obviously a Super Bowl contender, the window for a Super Bowl was immediately open right now this year. But without Andrew Luck there, you had Jacoby Brissett, a quarterback, you don't know the future of that position.

Do you feel like this team is currently in a Super Bowl window right now? Or do you think maybe that Andrew Luck and his timeline and him retiring really kind of pushed things back the longer we go into the season as you realize that? Yeah, you know, that's a really – I think that's a really good question. I think it's going to be one that's going to be interesting to see how Chris Ballard feels about it. I think there's no doubt with luck under center, this was the opening of the Super Bowl window right here this year.

And I think that's, you know, from a fan standpoint, from a media standpoint, that's probably the most frustrating thing about this season. You look at the way things have played out, even with the injuries, the way the defense has played, the way they've gotten from the running game, what they wanted to get from the running game. It's obvious to anybody who watches football that the missing ingredient is the passing game right now. And I think it's not hard to imagine this team being exactly who everybody thought they would be back in July. When T.Y. Hilton said,

this is the best team he's ever been a part of, I think that's come to fruition on the field, except for the fact that the most important piece of it isn't there. And so I think that's why quarterback becomes a very high priority. I think it always is. But like I said before, I think you've got to be very disciplined and you've got to do the work and then some to get it done. Because I think that the Colts now go into a role where they've got to find

a Lamar Jackson. They've got to find a Russell Wilson. They've got to find somebody who's being underrated by the rest of the league for whatever reason who they can bring in and can play at a high level in this system moving on here george to a positive point at least from what i've noticed since october here we are rightfully criticizing the defense back in september because they weren't really doing so well but the turnaround they've made i think it's been pretty awesome to see with maddie refluxley in that group the young guys especially

bobby okariki last couple weeks, are really shining. What's your overall opinion of this defense right now? And I feel like maybe you added one or two more pieces in the draft for A&C, and this team could really be elite. But I wanted to ask you as well about the defense. Should we start worrying a little bit about Matt Iberflues being a coaching candidate this time next year? Because I feel like he's a guy who, with little pieces around,

with just such inexperience, this defense, once again, is having a huge season. Yeah, absolutely. I think the best thing the Colts can hope for is that this crazy offensive trend continues and the majority of teams continue to not even look at the defensive side of the ball because as soon as they do, I think Iver Flus is going to be very high on that list of candidates and should be.

I mean, what he's done in his two seasons here has been outstanding with this group. The way this particular unit has grown since September, I think it shows you a lot about the coaches. And this linebacking core in general, for parts of that game on Sunday, they controlled the football game. Bobby Okereke, as you mentioned, Anthony Walker, Darius Leonard, they were making plays all over the field. Sacks, forced fumbles, fumble recoveries.

And that's one of Ibraflus' biggest focal points. I mean, if you go out to training camp, you were there this summer a little bit. He's with linebackers all the time. You know, that's his kind of – his area of specialty. So, see them playing at the level they're playing at, this defense playing as a whole, the multiple things that they're able to do. Yeah, I think there's definitely concern that he's going to be a head coach soon.

And I think he deserves it. I think what he's done with this defense has been outstanding. I think they would like to go and add a little more beef in the tackle spot. You've seen them trying to do that throughout the year. I think they want to be a little more sturdy against the run in the middle of that defensive line. Grover Stewart stepping up has been a big help there, but they need a little more depth there.

Probably another long athletic corner, and then probably another pass rusher because you can just, you'd never have too many of them. And aside from that, yeah, I think this defense is in a really good position, not just to be good this year, but to continue to be good for years to come. Are you a tough fan of those people so well that you could choose any game

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Now closing out the show here, George, let's dive into the Tampa Bay game because now at this point the Colts literally have their backs against the wall. They have to win out to make the playoffs if they even want to. With the way that the season – after Sunday I feel like the season's almost over just when you look at the Twitters of everyone and also just look around the atmosphere of Indianapolis right now. It just seems like the season's over. But there's still a chance for this team to make the playoffs. What do they have to do against Tampa Bay on Sunday to win that one, George?

Because I feel like win or loss, we're going to know an awful lot about how this team is going to finish the season on Sunday. Yeah, absolutely. And I do think as far as the rest of the season goes, I think there's a lot of valuation to go. And I think the receiver group is going to be one of the fun things to watch. Because as we mentioned, a lot of those guys are undrafted guys. A lot of them have a lot to prove.

You know that T.Y. Hilton is going to be back next year. You know that Paris Campbell is going to be back next year. Zach Paschal certainly earned his ticket back for next season. And so, you know, I think these guys, Marcus Johnson, Chad Williams, who just got called up, Ashton Doolin, this is their opportunity to go out and show that they earned a spot with this receiving core next year as well. So I think that's going to be one of the fun things to watch, and I think that's going to be a big part of the game on Sunday. Can they continue to make plays?

The receivers, the passing game, aside from the two interceptions, which were back-breaking critical interceptions, I think the passing game did a pretty good job on Sunday, and the receivers in particular getting open and making plays. They're going to need to do that, obviously, to keep some balance in the offense to move the football I think the most important thing on Sunday is containing that vertical passing game you know that's what Bruce Arians wants to do there's absolutely no secret about that the Bucs have I think two 1,000 yard receivers on that

roster they're going to throw it deep they're going to do it often they're going to throw it deep. They're going to do it often. They're going to test that secondary. Pierre Desir, Kenny Moore, if he's able to come back, that'll be a big thing to keep an eye on this week. Malik Hooker, Rocky Steen, it's going to be a big week for them to prove that they can kind of get that bubble, get it created, and keep those big plays from happening. They struggled really with that against Houston. They had the one play that got out against Tennessee late. It's going to be a major factor on Sunday for them. As far as predictions go, Brendan – or excuse me, as far as predictions go, George, I really wanted to ask you

because I don't know where I'm going to go with this game. I feel like, honestly, this could be a game where the Colts win decisively just because the back's against the wall, but it also could be a game where they lose because this Buccaneers team is actually a really hot team right now. They went into Jacksonville, pretty easily defeated the Jaguars on Sunday. Jameis Winston, if he doesn't turn the ball over, it could be a really ugly game, I feel like.

I'm going to go 27-17 Buccaneers over the Colts with just the way the offense has been playing the last two months, I just don't have the confidence if a team scores over 20 against this Colts team I don't think the Colts can even even match that no I think you're absolutely right I mean there's no reason right now to to have a lot of confidence in this offense you know I thought they were moving the ball really well on Sunday and then it just stopped you know midway through the third quarter they got to 17 and then they were just stuck on that number uh and you know the special teams problems continue and so it doesn't feel like this is a team that's going to put up a lot of points

and Tampa Bay is not a team that's easy to hold down so I would say probably somewhere around where you're I might say more like 23 to 17. But I definitely think unless the Colts come out with a different look offensively than they've had in recent past, I think Tampa Bay will probably come away with a win on Sunday. Alrighty, that does it for today's episode again. Hey, George, appreciate the time as always. And we'll definitely see how this team responds here on Sunday. No doubt about it.

And I know this much, they continue to have a lot of faith, so we'll see. But I feel like the margin for error is so small right now, and they keep making these critical late-game mistakes, and you see the result. All righty, guys. That's it for today's episode. Appreciate everyone listening in. As always, be with you guys tomorrow for the next episode.