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INDIANAPOLIS – Unlike the previous year, there weren’t a whole lot of questions about Chris Ballard’s roster moves in 2019.

 

It was pretty status quo in getting the roster down to 53 this weekend.

 

However, the Colts GM still met with the media on Sunday to go over those moves, and any lingering Andrew Luck retirement questions.

 

Here are Ballard’s comments about cutting the Colts’ roster down to 53 players:

 

On currently having just 1 quarterback (Jacoby Brissett) on the 53-man roster: “We’re working through it. We want to get the right guy for us and we know there are some possibilities out there. But we’re working through it and we’ll have him in the building here soon.”

 

On needing a backup QB for the entire season, knowing that Chad Kelly’s suspension is ending in two weeks: “That’s a good question. We felt very fortunate in the situation we were in with both Andrew and Jacoby. Not everybody has a guy like (Jacoby). We want to make sure we make the right decision both in the short term and in the long term. I know that doesn’t exactly answer your question, but we’re working through both scenarios. I will tell you that.”

 

On what the team will do when Chad Kelly coms off the suspension list: “We will work through that as we go.”

 

On if Kelly is more than a practice squad guy: “We like him, I’ll say that. We like Chad.”

 

On keeping just 8 offensive linemen: “We’ve got a couple guys that we really like in those back spots. But with the depth at wideout, with the depth in the secondary, with the depth on the d-line, we ended up keeping 10 defensive linemen, keeping the four (running) backs and at some point – I mean you can only keep 53 guys. But that’s a position that we always have our eye on.”

 

On claiming new cornerback Ryan Lewis from the Bills: “We kind of had our eyes on Lewis here for a while. Last year we tried to get him. We see a similar guy (to Chris Milton). He is big and fast. He is really good on (special) teams and we think he has got some upside at corner. So we said, ‘Why not take a shot?’ We didn’t have a lot of spots to move, but that was one. We got a younger player who has got a little more time on his contract going forward that we thought we would take a shot and we thought he could help us.”

 

On having guys traded for draft picks over the past week, and what that says for the Colts depth: “We are getting closer. I don’t know if we are quite there yet, but we are definitely getting closer. I’ll say this, we did have interests, a couple guys we moved, but also guys that are currently on the roster, which is always a good feeling when other teams are calling about your players on your roster and trying to get them off.”

 

On this league always moving along, no matter the shock over the Luck news: “It didn’t matter. The train keeps moving and either you find a way to fix the problem and roll with it or it’ll swallow you up. We’re going to choose to move forward. I think that’s one of the really neat things about this league is that the people that can really solve the problems in season. Everybody always focuses on offseason and solving roster issues. Even though the quarterback, as we know is a big piece of it, but being able to solve problems during the season, having a list of names and having emergency guys and your coaching staff, it all kind of fits together. Because you’ve got to bring a guy in on a Tuesday and you sign him on a Wednesday and he’s playing on a Sunday, that’s tough on them. You want to stay healthy and you want everything to go smooth and everything go perfect but that’s not reality. I think you’ve got to expect that problems are going to happen and you deal with them as they come along.”

 

On referring back to his introductory press conference about needing more than just Luck to win: “It is a team game, it’s the ultimate team game. I think you all have heard me talk about it a bunch. I do believe in defensive football. I know you’ve got to score points, I get it. But you’ve got to be able to block people and you’ve got to be able to stop people. Those are two areas that we’ve really emphasized since we’ve been here. And the depth that you have, we are obsessed with it. We are absolutely, as a coaching staff, as a scouting staff, we’re obsessed with depth. That’s why you see us making these moves all the time and working out players. You have to constantly be looking to upgrade and make sure you’ve got the type of depth you need to win.”

 

On what Ballard has learned about crisis management in the last week: “What haven’t I learned over crisis management here in the last (laughing)? I don’t know. I mean it’s probably no different than what we dealt with when Josh (McDaniels). Look, to me you always stand up and you’re honest. It is what it is. You don’t try to spin it. It is what it is. Whatever the situation you are dealing with, stand up, own it, face it and move forward. What else can you do? When you try to make excuses, when you try to spin a story, that bites you. Anytime I get up here – I tell our guys all the time – I don’t have to think back what I said in the past because I am just telling you what I believe. That is just it. I don’t ever tell a lie. I don’t get up here and try to spin something. No, this is who I am and this is what I believe. This is what I do. I don’t know if I answered that correctly, but it kind of is what it is. You get up, you own it and you move forward.”

 

On Ballard talking with Luck this past week (which Ballard said he hasn’t): “I mean we are all close. At some point I am sure he will reach out, but I haven’t. Yeah, he is retired. I’ve got a team to deal with. He is still a friend so I am sure at some point he will reach out, but I have not heard anything from him.”

 

On the Luck news leaking during the preseason game: “It bothers me, I’m not going to sit here and tell you it doesn’t because it does. Tracking that down is very difficult. I think you know my stance here, I like it when we can come in and give it to y’all instead of having the outside world know it first. Look, it’s something that was a little bothersome, without question. But it’s a hard thing to track.”

 

On the Colts locker room not saying anything negative about Luck’s retirement: “I don’t know if it’s what we’ve built more than what Andrew stood for. I think two fold. I think number one, I think everybody understands how respected Andrew Luck was. And then congruent to what our personnel staff and our coaching staff, what we believe and the type of men that we want in the building, to your point, is we want guys that when it gets hard and when there are hard moments they won’t flinch. We’re at the beginning. We’re doing and saying all the right things. Now we’ve got to push forward and move forward. It’s cool to see, no doubt. But we’re just staring out. It will be fun to watch this team grow and start climbing up that mountain as Frank talks about.”

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