Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - LOCKED ON COLTS 8/6/19: Colts sign D'Onta Foreman, TE4 battle, and impact of Jabaal Sheard's knee surgery

Episode Date: August 6, 2019

On today's episode, lots of Colts-related new nuggets have dropped over the last 48 hours.First, Indianapolis surprised many by claiming former Texans running back -- and top 100 pick -- D'Onta Foreman. What will Foreman's role be with the Colts? Is there a chance he won't even make the 53-man roster? Certainly, because the battle between Foreman and Jonathan Williams for RB4 now is one of the top preseason storylines to follow. Also, will the former Heisman candidate buck the trend of RBs who quickly flame out after Achilles injuries?Hale Hentges, the UDFA TE from Alabama, is catching the eyes of many through the first 11 days of training camp. Not only is Hentges showcasing his blocking ability, but displaying an ability to run the route tree while consistently beating coverage. Indianapolis has had a 20-year streak of an undrafted free agent making the roster. Will Henges make it 21? Right now, he has the slight lead over Ross Travis for the final tight end spot.Finally, head coach Frank Reich finally let out more details on Jabaal Sheard's knee. Sheard had surgery recently on his knee, with a timetable currently unknown. What is the impact over the short and long term for the Colts' defense? Sheard's an underrated asset on run downs, so a lot of pressure now falls on the shoulders of Al-Quadin Muhammad and rookie Ben Banogu to fill his role. After the 2019-20 campaign, will this knee injury now make Sheard more expendable as a free agent?Stick around to the end as our weekly guest schedule is now firmly locked in and announced with an A-list crew! 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's I was your host, Evan Sider. I'm here today to recap the latest Colts news for you guys here on a Tuesday evening. And we actually have a lot that's broken in the last 24 hours. And we're going to start off first with Deontay Foreman signing, which I found very intriguing myself. We're going to cover that in the first segment here. Then in the second segment, we're going to go over the UDFA tradition for the Atlas Colts. They've had 20 straight years of an undrafted free agent making the 53-man roster will it be 21 though because one guy is making a lot of noise recently an offensive player and I think he's got has a

really good chance right now of making the 53-man spot and I want to know we're going to talk about more in the second segment between the tight end four battle between Hale Hentges and Ross Travis because if Hale Hentges makes it, that streak will extend to 21 years. But in our final segment, we're going to hit on the latest news of Jabal Sheard as well, as it's been officially reported today by Frank Reich. He did have a surgery on his knee. It sounds like it's a scope. Who knows if he's ready for the season opener,

but it most likely is going to be a time tail where he's going to miss at least a couple weeks in the regular season. So we're going to hit on all that today and more on the latest episode of Locked on Colts. But first off, let's start with Deontay Foreman signing. The Colts officially claimed Deontay Foreman off waivers. He was a third round pick, 89th overall by the Houston Texans in 2017. During Foreman's rookie year, he tore his Achilles in the final game and he missed almost most of his second season. He came back, did not put up that great of numbers for Houston after his Achilles injury.

On December 23rd against the Philadelphia Eagles, he had seven carries for negative one yards. He also had one touchdown, two cuts for 28 yards. Also fumbled, though, as well. And in the playoffs against the Colts, he only had one carry for three yards. So he definitely was rusty coming back from his Achilles last year. Before that, though, Deontay Foreman was a Heisman candidate at Texas. He ran for over 2,000 yards, over 350 carries, though, Deontay Foreman was a Heisman candidate at Texas. He ran for over 2,000 yards,

over 350 carries, though, as well. So there's a lot of trail tires with Deontay Foreman already. That's probably why the Colts were interested, though, because he's not going to be a primary back, obviously, with Marlon Mack aboard. You have Naeem Hines as well. Jonathan Williams and Jordan Wilkins are also holding their own. So Deontay Foreman, there's not a

secured spot for him to make this team, but I found the waiver claim very interesting because Foreman was released by the Houston Texans, not because of his production or his injury, but because of his work ethic, according to multiple reports out of Houston. Bill O'Brien wasn't really much of a fan of Deontay Foreman, and it really showed in media interviews who watched the Houston Texans that Foreman really wasn't a guy really praised much by head coach Bill O'Brien over there. And it's an interesting opportunity because Tom Rathman,

the Colts running back coach, is a no-nonsense type of guy. I've seen him multiple times in practice throughout training camp so far, and I'm concerned for him up there. If you're not doing something right, he's going to lay into you. If Deontay Foreman's a lazy guy, that's not going to fly in the locker room. That's not going to fly long-term. I could easily see him being cut within the next few weeks if that happens. I think Tom Rathman is a great example of what could be for Deontay Forne

because he's needed a change of scenery. He's a guy who has all the talent in the world, but it's work ethic. It's about drive and desire. And if he can actually get that back on track, I'm really curious to see that RB4 battle. I think the first three guys here are pretty much slotted in. I think Jordan Wilkins is pretty much a safe bet to make the roster because he can play special teams.

He proved that last year. But Marlon Mack, Naeem Hines, Jordan Wilkins, but that RB4 spot, we'll probably decide here over the next few weeks of preseason, which will be between Jonathan Williams and Deontay Foreman. But Deontay Foreman, there's an interesting example here of not only production over talent with Deontay Foreman, but I think another interesting case that should be talked about more is his Achilles injury, like I mentioned.

As Evan Silva of Established to Run pointed out over the last few weeks, no running back has ever come back fully from a torn Achilles, and really quickly after that, they flamed out. And the latest example of that was Mikel LaShore with the Detroit Lions. He tore his Achilles his rookie year in 2011 during minicamp. He missed his entire rookie campaign, came back in 2012, rushed for over 800 yards and nine touchdowns but after that in 2013 he quickly flamed out was cut after a few weeks in the regular season so it will be curious to see if Deontay Ford can really buck that trend he's looked good on workout videos that I've watched but I think for him he's coming into a situation where he's gonna be asked maybe

to touch the ball five times per game if that he's gonna be a bruiser guy near the end zone I'd imagine maybe like the Robert Turbin we saw of 2017. That takes some of those splits away. But I really would be shocked if there's much to rule for Deontay Foreman. I think it's more of Chris Bauer probably liked Foreman a lot in the pre-draft process. Let's see what he has here. He's an upgrade with Keith Ford, who they waived, who was actually claimed by the Green Bay Packers today

as they cut a former Indian who dropped the tackle, Jason Spriggs. I think for a guy like Deontay Foreman, this is just an interesting case study to see if this is going to pay off for him. If the locker room can pay off for him, he's a guy who has quote-unquote bad work ethic. If that can be changed around Tom Rathman, changed around Chris Bauer, Frank Reich, and that system, then I think it's going to be a coup for them to get Deontay Foreman a top 100 pick two years ago. But the injury with him is what I'm more interested about.

If he can bounce back from that torn Achilles where history has shown pretty clearly that running backs are never the same following a torn Achilles injury. So if Foreman can regain some of that, maybe get 80% of what Deontay Foreman was at the University of Texas, maybe he can stick around. But I think right now we shouldn't peg in Deontay Foreman as making the 53-man roster. I think right now we should peg Jonathan Williams as the fourth running back over Deontay Foreman until proven otherwise. Deontay Foreman reportedly got a lot of snaps actually at practice today. His first practice he arrived at 1 a.m. this morning in Indianapolis time,

and he immediately got reps there. He's number 40 if you were at practice today. That's his number right now for preseason. And he reportedly did well in his limited time there. But I want to see more of it. I want to see if he can actually be a legit guy in the stable of running backs, if he can actually beat out Jonathan Williams, who Chris Bauer reportedly loves. He saw him in New Orleans. He did well in preseason.

He's done well in OTAs as well. Flashed a couple times in training camp, too, so Jonathan Williams is going to be a very hard beat for Deontay Foreman. And if Foreman doesn't stick in Indianapolis, I really wonder what his future is going to be because, as we pointed out, bad work ethic plus an injury like that probably isn't good for your long-term future. But I think Deontay Foreman has a really good opportunity to bounce back and learn from a guy like Tom Rathman and in this Indianapolis system. If he can completely buy into that, that's the big thing with Deontay Foreman

is buying in, is showing that he's actually capable and he's 100%. So I'm really curious to see how that works out with Deontay Foreman. Overall, for him, though, I mean, you look at his numbers from his rookie year, before he got injured, and for him, he was a legit number two guy to Lamar Miller at the time his rookie season. In 10 games, he rushed for 327 yards and two touchdowns, averaged 4.2 yards per carry. So that makes you wonder if he can regain some of that form, then he could be that kind of player that can help spell Naeem Hines, Marlon

Mack. He at least offers a different element there. If you didn't know, actually, Deontay Foreman ran a quicker 40 time than Marlon Mack during the combine, which I found really interesting because Foreman's about 20 pounds heavier. So he's a physical freak. He's a specimen, but I want to see more out of Deontay Foreman. The injury is what concerns me the most with him. And if you didn't know, Deontay Foreman actually has had issues with fumbles before. He has three career fumbles and two career touchdowns rushing the ball. So that's not a good sign either. I want to see if he's, if he has an issue with fumbling as well.

There's no way he's going to make his time. Rathbun said on multiple occasions, the worst pet peeve is guys fumbling the ball away. And that Marlon Mack's getting cured of that more and more as he's under Raffin's tutelage. But if Foreman is doing that, he's not going to stick long because Williams, Hines, and Wilkins have all proven that they can actually at least hold on to the ball and they don't have bad work ethic habits

that Foreman has possessed, at least in Houston. But if that can be cured in Indianapolis, I think it's a great signing for them. Why not just try and see what happens there? A one-year flyer on Deontay Foreman. If he hits, good job. If he doesn't, it's not going to bother you because you can easily cut him after the end of the preseason. If Jonathan Williams rightfully beats him out, this really shouldn't be much of a top because Williams will have been proven that he is a much better running back than Deontay Foreman. So not really much else to cover on

Deontay Foreman here. I think for him mostly it's about what's it going to be? Is it going to be what kind of role? Are you going to buy in? Are you going to succeed? That's the big thing. I think this is a wake-up call for Deontay Foreman. He was a very highly regarded prospect at Texas. So if he can hit, then this is a great thing for the Annapolis Colts. But until then, I'm very much on the fence and see what happens there because Foreman, the numbers prove themselves already. Like I've said, Evan Silva, a point I established when he was on the fence and see what happens there because Foreman, the numbers prove themselves already. Like I've said, Evan Silva at a point I established when he was on the podcast in the spring that

running backs that have Achilles injuries never come back to be the same. So this is just, I think a fly on the wall here. I think Ballard just wants to get a look at one of the guys he liked in the 2017 draft a little bit more. If he sticks, that's great. If not, you move on. So before we go on to our next segment, we're going to be talking more about Hale Hentges versus Ross Travis for that number four spot.

And if Hale Hentges can continue that 20-year tradition, extend it to 21 years, bringing out those quotes of an undirected free agent making the 53-man roster. I want to tell you guys really quickly about today's sponsor, which is Five Star Painting. Five Star Painting is looking for new owners to join their growing company.

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He's beating starting defensive backs for the Colts consistently in one-on-ones and seven-on-seven action. He's more than holding his own. He's beating starting defensive backs for the Colts consistently in one-on-one action. And I found it very curious that at Monday's practice, Nick Sirianni, the offensive coordinator of the Indianapolis Colts, said a comparison between him and Jack Doyle, who was also an undirected free agent at Western Kentucky, Indiana local product. That's a fair comparison, which I found really surprising. A little bit eye-opening, too, because that means he's really catching the eyes

of the coaching staff there. If he could be a Jack Doyle clone maybe not put as much expectation on Hale Hentges as we saw Jack Doyle but he can be at least like a a light version of Jack Doyle I think that's a very good sign for him to make the roster he can be maybe a player who fills that Ryan Hewitt role last year being like a fullback H-back type he can also be a third four tight end I think he offers more versatility than Ross Travis does, which I want to get into as well, because Ross Travis has looked a little rusty so far following his ACL injury. He's also now battling a hamstring injury, but definitely when I've seen Ross Travis and Hale Hentges out there together, Hentges is popping more often, which I

found really surprising, because Ross Travis is the better athlete by far, but Hentges seems to be the more technical route runner, seems to be a way better blocker, and he seems to be buying in more to his system there. I'm really curious to see what happens there, because Hale Hentges seems to be the more technical route runner, seems to be a way better blocker, and he seems to be buying in more to his system there. I'm really curious to see what happens there because Hale Hentges is a player that could really be garnering a lot of attention later on in this because Hentges didn't have the opportunity to really show at Alabama that he was a pass-catching tight end. Because if you look at his stats from Alabama, it's easy to look and say he's not really a good pass catcher because 15 catches over his four-year career,

124 yards, six touchdowns, six over the last two years. But as you can see, he was really more utilized as a blocking tight end. Irv Smith garnered all the attention for Alabama. He went in the second round to Minnesota. Hale Hentges obviously went undrafted for the Colts. But it's very similar to maybe what Jack Doyle was at West Kentucky because that's kind of similar production there. And you could envision a scenario where if Hale Hentges can prove to himself and to this coaching staff that he's more of a pass catcher and a versatile Swiss Army knife type of weapon at the tight end position,

more so than Ross Travis, because he's a lot better blocker than Ross Travis is right now. So if he can prove to the preseason action that he's a legit reliable safety blanket, so to say, at the tight end position. I think that he is on his way to making the 53-man roster. And right now, I'd bet on him making over Ross Triarts because, as I mentioned, he just offers more on the table. And I think Hentges has proven time and time again in one-on-one reps and in training camps so far through 11 days that he's an undrafted free agent that everyone should be knowing

by now. He is guarding the attention of a lot of coaches. Nick Ciarani, like I mentioned, name-dropped him earlier this week on Monday's practice. Frank Reich also talked about him, I believe, a couple weeks ago when training camp was officially starting. So Hentges is a player that everyone needs to keep an eye on here because if he breaks out into the scene in preseason, I think he's definitely keeping the tradition going of 21 straight years of an undirected free agent making the roster because Hentges, I was there last week for practice and on multiple occasions,

he made some really wow catches, some one handers. He even beat Darius Leonard to the corner in the end zone. That really caught my eye. I don't know if anyone else knows that in the media, but on one rep, it was a bathrobe from Chad Kelly, but Hentges beat Darius Leonard to the corner route in the end zone. And I just raised my eyebrows for a second. I'm like, this guy looks the part of a good route runner.

He looks the part of a guy who is going to be a good pass catcher. And so if he provides the blocking that we saw out of Bama, I think that's going to translate more immediately than a lot of people imagine. I think Henchis is a diamond in the rough. I really think he is. He could be a player down the line, maybe not this year, of course, but two to three years, maybe even next year in 2020, if Jack Doyle leaves in free agency, where you could maybe slot him as a third tight end long term. You could maybe have Ebron if you re-sign him, Moe Cox, and then Hale

Hentges is your third guy right there, filling that third tight end role long term. I think that makes an awful lot of sense, but obviously there's been no preseason games played so far. We can't really get ahead of ourselves here with Hale Hentges, but from what we've seen so far in practice, I think it's definitely notable what we've seen out of him, and it's definitely not gone unnoticed. And with Hale Hentges, 15 career catches, don't just look at the stats here. Look at the production. Look at the tape. If you're at Westfield, go and watch training camp practices, because Hale Hentges, you'll notice quickly in one-on-one drills and seven-on-seven and in team action, he's consistently winning his reps,

and that's the biggest thing you need to do as an undrafted free agent. You need to prove yourself right away in training camp. You need to prove yourself, and that's exactly what he's doing. Hale Hentges is willing to make a 53-man roster. If I'm going to make a 53-man roster prediction, which will be coming out next week on the podcast, I do have Hentges slotted in over Ross Travis. I think that's going to be one of the more intriguing battles to watch for in preseason.

Will Ross Travis recover from his hentging injury? Will he show the more intriguing battles to watch for in preseason. Will Ross Travis recover from his handstring injury? Will he show the explosiveness we saw last year in preseason action? Or will Hentges really take the spotlight? Will he be the one that gets the reliable catches? Will he be the one who's the safety blink for Chad Kelly or Phillip Walker in third string action? Because we're going to be seeing an awful lot of handhentges in all these games. I think we'll, maybe not in the first quarter, but I think the last three quarters on Thursday against Buffalo, Hentges is going to play a lot.

And then so on and so forth for the rest of the weeks that we see in preseason because I think out of any of the undirected free agents, that's definitely Hale Hentges who has the best chance of making the roster. And that's definitely something to watch for with him because if he does break out, it's going to be really awesome to see because it's a great story if you follow him. I'm curious to hear, listeners, your thoughts on this situation with Hale Hentges and the undrafted free agent streak that we have going on. Two decades for the Annapolis Colts having

an undrafted free agent make the roster. Will Hale Hentges be the 21st? Let me know if you're listening on Reddit, on Twitter, in your iTunes section. Leave a comment and review. Is Hale Hentges going to make this roster? Because right now, I would definitely say he does, but preseason is actually going to tell us an awful lot, not only about Hentges, but really every one of these backups fighting for a long-term spot on this roster. But before we go on to our next one here, closing out the show, talking about Jabal Shearer, we finally got an injury update

from head coach Frank Reich about it, and it's going to mean an awful lot for three guys on the Colts defensive line who are all young. I want to tell you guys really quickly about two more sponsors of today's show, which are all part of the Locked On Podcast Network. If you haven't already, subscribe to the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. If you haven't already, go ahead and subscribe to Locked On NFL.

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it's time to close out today's show with our final segment talking about Jabal Sheard and our injury update here we got from Frank Reich today. It's officially a surgery that Jabal Sheard had on his knee. They haven't officially said the details of it, but I'm assuming this is hypothetical here. It was a knee scope. It's what all the signs are pointing to, and I think it makes the most sense.

And I think overall, it's a big injury, of course, because Jabal Shearer is their best run setting defensive end. And I think he's one of the more underrated Colts on the defense really in the past year or so. I think he's very criminally underrated. He really helps set the run game as far as the defense goes. And I'll be really curious to see what happens just over the next month or maybe even longer with Jabal Sher being out. Al-Qaidi Muhammad's being in all the reps there. The coaching staff loves Al-Qaidi Muhammad. He's, as far as effort goes in that Ibrahimo defense,

he always talks about getting 11 hats on the ball. And Al-Qaidi Muhammad is a personification of that. You see him in reps and training camp so far. He's balls to the wall, always going 100% every single time he's out there. And that's a huge thing for Ibrahim Flusen. I think that they love AQM for that because he's always giving his all. His effort's always there. And that's probably why right now he's ahead of players such as Ben Banigou and Kamoko

Touré as far as taking over that opposite spot if Jabal Shearer was down for a long period of time because he just seems to be a good run defender. And right now, we can't say that about Ture and Banigou. Banigou hasn't had the reps. Ture has shown he's inconsistent in the run game. But he is flashing as far as pass repertoire and attack goes at the quarterback. But if you think about all the versatile aspects that Al-Qaida Muhammad brings to the defense, if it's a short-term injury at Jabal Shearer, I'm not worried.

Because you have these three guys in Muhammad, you have Ture, and you have Banigou. You can all rep in here, in and out, at the right defensive end spot. Muhammad can be a guy on first, second down. He takes the run reps. Then you can have maybe Ben Banigou sliding on third down or Kamoka Ture if you want to have Ture and Houston

on opposite ends of each other, which would be really... If Ture is flashing like he has a training camp so far, that could be a really deadly combination if you put it out there for a couple weeks. But overall, I just want to see how they respond without Jabal Sheard. Obviously, in game action, it's a lot different than training camp. In preseason, we're going to be seeing a little bit of that tomorrow. How will Al-Qaini Mohamed fare as the defensive end starter? And how will Ben Banigou or Kamoko Ture play?

Banigou probably isn't going to play, but Ture probably will. So I want to see those two guys, especially against Buffalo on Thursday and throughout the preseason, because without Shear out there for an unknown amount of time, it's going to have to be really on those two guys' shoulders to help carry the load, because Shear is a missing piece to that rushing defense, like I mentioned. And without him, you really have to step up as far as the effort goes. And really, you're putting a lot of pressure on the linebackers too

if you don't get a performance at the right defensive end spot. So Sheard and his knee is an interesting question as well because it's a final year of his contract, $7.5 million, he's an unrestricted free agent in 2020. What would the Colts do if Sheard's knee is long-term just not going to be what it was? I could easily see the Colts just letting him go after this year, get a comp pick, and really play that game as far as developing Ben Banigou and Kamoko Ture as maybe those two guys your book ends long-term. I think Banigou

has a chance to really shine. We talked to Brett Yarris, his trainer on the podcast a couple months ago, and he's really hyped me up as far as Banigou's rush potential and his rushing attack potential as far as sealing the edge there. And he showed it a little bit at TCU even though he's more of an offside linebacker, but I really want to see how Banigou translates. And if he can actually hold his own in this spot and eventually take Jabal Sheard's spot. I know they're a little bit weight differential right now. I think Sheard's about 20 pounds heavier than Banigou. If Banigou can put on a little bit more on his frame, same goes for Ture. I think those two

guys can easily handle the load. Al-Qadi Mohammed as well has the exact same frame pretty much as Jabal Sheard. Those three guys are definitely the most intriguing and the ones who I think will get the most reps and the most benefit from Sheard being out. Unless they prove it on the field and if they're actually a detriment in the run defense department, I really believe this could be a big injury for the Colts defense. But I want to see how they respond because Sheard, he's viewed as the defensive leader, so to say. The front seven, you hear on Matt Eberthus when he spoke to the media today, he's a quiet leader. He's a guy who, when he's out there, you notice it because he's the last one in the film room.

He's always teaching the young guys. Right now, he's a valuable president. He's 30 years old. He's one of the oldest guys in the locker room, surprisingly, just how young this team is. That's incredible to say. But Sheard has really taken on a veteran leadership role. If you can have Trey and Banu be sponges to him for the next year or so, I think they'd

be more than comfortable letting him go within the next year and getting that comp pick. But in the meantime, I don't want to be too worried about this injury because Sheard has been a marathon man he's never been hurt so I want to see just how he responds to this Sheard personally because he hasn't really had a knee injury like this before if his steps a little bit slow when he comes back then that has me a little bit worried because I think a healthy Jabal Sheard will go a long way to their cult really really reaching their maximum ceiling this year, which obviously is breaching that holding the Labarri trophy in Miami in February and being the Super Bowl champions. I think Jabal Sheard is an underrated piece to that puzzle because if Justin Houston hits like I think he will for his contract, add in the deep rotation on defensive line they

have, they have about eight or nine guys that can rotate in as far as inside and outside goes. And that's nowadays you need that in the modern day NFL, where you have waves of bodies coming in and out. You need those fresh guys throughout the games, late in games especially, because that's when the run game, once they start going for offense, that's when you want to really start seeing a lot more aggressiveness out of the defense and a lot more energy out of them.

And later in games, when you don't have a deep defensive line rotation, that's exactly what happens. You get decimated later in the games. But with the Colts, luckily, Chris Ballard has done a great job of adding in that defensive line depth. And you'd hope the Sheard injury doesn't really impact him that much, but he's one of the best underrated run defending defensive ends in the NFL, in my opinion. And I think it's a big loss if it's a long-term injury. If he's out for, let's say, the first six to eight weeks of the season, I think that's pretty big because I think Muhammad is a step down,

of course, from Shearer. And I think just without the reps right now, I think Banigou and Ture are a significant step down to Jabal Shearer as far as what he can provide in the defensive category as far as run stuffing goes. Pass rush is a different thing, but I think overall just first and second down, those are the big downs, obviously on defense. And you need to hold them to a third and seven, a third and six. Third and five, third and four, third and three, you have to avoid that for a defense because those are the easy paths you can get.

You can easily get a first down if you're the offense there in today's NFL to spread you out. Go four wide, go 12 personnel, whatever you want to do. Find the opening in the seam and you'll get there for three or four yards in a cloud of dust. But with Sheard, his run- his run stuffing ability helps set the edge helps you bounce back have the running back cut back inside and meet the linebackers like Darius Leonard Anthony Walker Rover Stewart in the inside nose tackle all those guys help are a benefactor from Jabal Sheard's run presence and

I think I'm really curious to see how Al-Qaeda Muhammad handles that because it's going to be on his shoulders mostly if this is a long-term injury Al-Qadi Muhammad handles that because it's going to be on his shoulders mostly. If this is a long-term injury, Al-Qadi Muhammad is going to take a big leap this year and be a consistent force on first and second down. And that's going to be big for this Colts defense. And how they respond with Jabal Sheard out, Frank Reich said he doesn't know how long it's going to be. He could easily see it maybe not even hampering Sheard that much at all. Maybe it's a week or two in the regular season.

But if it's longer than that, I want to see how they respond Al-Qaidi Mohammed, Kamoko Ture, Ben Banigore are gonna be the three guys like I mentioned getting the lion's share of the reps now Jabal shared out Banigore's been nursing a hamstring injury Kamoko Ture was out earlier in training camp with a shoulder injury but Al-Qaidi Mohammed's been the consistent one he's been out there almost every single practice so far so I want to see how he handles himself this year because at least so far in training camp practice, the ones that I were at earlier in the week and also hearing reports from guys like Kevin Bowen, George Brammer, Jake Arthur,

he's doing well for himself. And I think that's a big thing to watch for. If Muhammad can handle that and Trey and Banu can really grow into their roles, not only in the next few weeks, but over this entire course of the season, I think that makes the injury less impactful. But in the short term, I'm very worried just because Shearer could be a guy, if he's not

100% healthy, it's going to be kind of a big deal when you don't have one of the best run stuffing defensive ends in the NFL on your side, where you have an elite pass rusher on the other side and Justin Houston on the blind side, where you can really just have him worry about pinning his ears back and go get in the pass rusher. But without Shearer out there, I'm really curious to see how Matt Ibrafluist and that defense responds, how they're going to counteract and adjust. Because if it's a long-term injury, I really want to see Mohamed, Ture, and Banigou get all three of those reps.

And I really wouldn't be surprised if those three guys, first, second down, you see Mohamed, second and third down, or third down, you probably see Banigou and Tre just alternating in and out so I'm really curious to see that three-man rotation if sheared out for a long period of time I don't know where I'd land right now if it's a long-term one as far as October yeah I'd get worried and hit the panic button slightly as far as the run defense goes but if you are able to maybe keep sheared out just for a couple weeks in the regular season then it's not really much to worry about there at least from the surface here a knee scope probably shouldn't be that much of a worry but we've seen from Kendall Linkford before in the past a guy who was a marathon man himself once he had a knee injury when he was age 30 he never was

the same again he was quickly cut the year a year later by the Colts because his performance fell off a cliff after that knee injury so how will will she respond to that? I really want to see it because he's an underrated piece of this defense and one that is vital to the Colts' maximum ceiling later on in the season. He's a guy who in December and January, that's where he makes most of his noise because you saw it even last year in the playoffs, and you saw it in December. He was a game wrecker as far as first, second down goes. He was a consistent guy who was plugging up the holes,

a guy who made him cut back to the inside and meet all those players like I mentioned earlier. So how will they respond? That's the big question with the Jabal Sheard injury and how will Jabal Sheard himself respond? Because if he's able to get back to himself, it's not going to be a big deal. But if he falls off and this is really just the end of it

for Sheard's prime, then yeah, this is a long-term thing that we should monitor because Sheard, him not really being the same anymore, would be a domino effect where probably he's let go at the end of the year. You get a comp pick, let's say a fourth-round comp pick for Jabal Sheard in 2021. And then you let probably Ben Banigou take over a spot in 2020 with Justin Houston still on the outside, with Kamoka Ture backing up Justin Houston there throughout the end of next season as well.

But that's the end of today's show. Everyone, I appreciate you listening in. As always, we're going to be back tomorrow for our next episode, which features a mailbag. I also want to let you guys know, before I let you go, our weekly schedule has been officially announced, which will be starting August 20th with the week of August 20th, which will have Zach Hicks of Stampede Blue on Monday, George Bremmer of the Herald Bulletin on Tuesday, Kevin Bowen of Kevin's Corner Podcast on 107.5 The Fan.

He's also the beat writer for the Colts on 107.5 The Fan. He's on every other Wednesday. We're also working on a special guest for the other Wednesdays too. Cody Felger of the Cody Felger Podcast will be on Wednesdays and Fridays. We're also going to have JakeArthur ofolts.com on Thursdays as well. And also on Fridays, we're going to have a special crossover edition. You'll hear it on Thursday this week.

We're going to have Joe Marino of Locked On Bills on and really start doing our weekly crossover edition, which I'm super excited about. So look forward to that. We're also going to do a weekly mailbag too. So really from now until January or February, hopefully the first week of February, Locked On Colts is going to be with you guys

five to six times a week, bringing you the best Colts coverage possible. So thanks again, everyone, for listening on today's podcast. We'll talk to you guys tomorrow for our mailbag edition.