Listen Live

INDIANAPOLIS – Per usual, it’s been a whirlwind of an offseason for Chris Ballard and his football team.

Following cutting his roster down to 53 players, Ballard met the media on Wednesday afternoon.

Here are some of the highlights from what the GM had to say entering his 5th season at the helm:

  • “I think we are still going to be pretty fluid with the roster these first few days,” is how Ballard began things on Wednesday. WR-T.Y. Hilton is heading for IR (to return) after having surgery on his neck. Ballard said the surgery was not major, not too intrusive and that it provided ‘instant relief’ to the 31-year-old wideout. Hilton will miss at least three games for going on IR. QB-Sam Ehlinger (knee) is also headed to IR for a chunk of time. The Colts are still debating on whether or not to place WR-Dezmon Patmon (foot) on IR.

 

  • Ballard was not in much of a mood to talk about the COVID-impact on his football team. “These are good players who are good people, who want to win, are great in the community, do everything right and we put a lot on them. We put a lot on the locker room to hold each other accountable and they know the standard of what we have. I trust that they’ll do that. I don’t ever live in a glass half empty world. I always see the positive. Whatever happens, we will deal with. That’s how we’ve been since we got here. Anything negative happens, we keep rolling…No matter what happens, don’t flinch. There’s going to be problems, in every season. There’s going to be injuries, breakthrough cases, there’s going to be COVID. It’s going to happen to every team. You move forward. I don’t sit here and worry about the negatives. We know what we need to handle and that’s what we’ll do.” Ballard did acknowledge that some of the Colts best players are unvaccinated, thus susceptible to a 5-day close contact absence at any point. He said that the team’s vaccination number (around 75 percent) did not dip after the team’s final cuts.

 

  • The Colts are planning to keep three quarterbacks on their active roster + practice squad all year long. Currently, the Colts have Jacob Eason and Sam Ehlinger on the 53-man roster, with Brett Hundley on the practice squad. That number of 3 will remain there when Carson Wentz comes off the COVID list and Ehlinger heads to IR. Given Wentz being unvaccinated, Ballard said the Colts will be ‘extra careful’ in keeping their quarterbacks adhering to protocols in team meetings and around the complex.

 

  • Ballard wouldn’t commit to when Wentz will be removed from the COVID list, nor if he would be the starter in Week One. The GM did say that he’s pleased with the progress that Wentz is making in his foot rehab.

 

  • Why did Chris Ballard keep 11 defensive linemen on his 53-man roster? “Because it’s D-linemen and they are hard to find,” the GM said. “I know (it’s a lot). It’s kind of where we are at. I just want to make sure early in the season we don’t go short there.”

 

  • Jacob Eason is the backup quarterback to start the season. Ballard really liked the growth Eason made across the three preseason games. “I thought he made really good strides,” Ballard said of Eason. “Last year not being able to get him any preseason work, he was the third string quarterback so minimal reps all year. What he got was a PHD in watching Philip Rivers play the game. Now you got to do it. It’s different. You can sit in a meeting room and sit and watch practice but playing in a game is a whole different level. It was pretty cool to watch from game 1, to game 2, to game 3, the game start to slow down for him. I think that’s going to be his biggest challenge for him going forward—the game has to get a little slower and he’s got to play a little faster. The more reps he gets, the better I think he’ll get at that.”

 

  • Rookie wideout Mike Strachan was a guy that Ballard liked back during rookie minicamp and that translated into a strong camp, and now 53-man roster spot. “He’s coming along, but he’s got a ways to go,” Ballard said when asked what Strachan can contribute. “He’s a big, talented guy…that has ball skills that is still learning how to play. We’ll start him out in small doses and see how he handles it. The more he produces, the more he’ll get the ball.”

 

  • Something similar could be said for the camp of Ben Banogu, who solidified his roster spot in camp: “Good, much better (camp),” Ballard said of Banogu. “It’s fun when you watch a guy get confidence. He cares and always gives good effort. Then you have to start having some success. It’s been fun watching Ben compete. He plays hard. He’s starting to gain some confidence. Ben is going to help us.”

 

  • Back in the spring, I asked Chris Ballard a position that concerned him the most, depth wise. He offered up the cornerback group. Well, Wednesday’s waiver claims back that up. The Colts were awarded two players in the waiver frenzy: CB-Thakarius Keyes (Chiefs) and CB-Chris Wilcox (Buccaneers). Keyes was a 7th round pick out of Tulane in 2020. He played in 8 games (1 start) for the Chiefs last year. At 6-1 and 202 pounds, Keyes definitely fits the bill of premium length. Wilcox also brings length to the position (6-2 and 198). Wilcox was a 7th round pick this past year out of BYU. He is known for his straight-line speed and sound tackling, although his ball production lacked in college. These moves indicate a couple of more things: the staff didn’t love the camp from Marvell Tell, and T.J. Carrie could be needed more at safety. Plus, the staff is still looking to find future, long body types to go alongside the answer in the slot (Kenny Moore). To make room for Keyes and Wilcox, the Colts waived Andre Chachere and Marvell Tell. With Tell gone, the Colts have now cut all three players who opted out last season (Tell, LB-Skai Moore, S-Rolan Miligan).

 

  • Ballard had this to say on adding the two cornerbacks: “Seeing the depth at cornerback around the league, we saw two guys we liked traits wise and we wanted to get them on our team.” Ballard said the Colts did not make any other waiver claims.

 

  • No Colts players who were cut on Tuesday were claimed by any other NFL teams on Wednesday.

 

  • On Wednesday afternoon, the Colts announced their 15-man practice squad, with still 1 open spot: WR-Tarik Black, LB-Curtis Bolton, DT-Andrew Brown, CB-Anthony Chesley, DE-Kameron Cline, S-Sean Davis, S-Shawn Davis, TE-Farrod Green, WR-DeMichael Harris, QB-Brett Hundley, C-Joey Hunt, RB-Deon Jackson, LB-Malik Jefferson, OT-Carter O’Donnell, WR-Tyler Vaughns. Reportedly, the Colts will be adding WR-Keke Coutee to the practice squad. Again, teams can bump up two players from the practice squad each week.

 

  • The Colts made an intriguing practice squad move on Wednesday, signing a guy that has torched Matt Eberflus and company. Wide receiver Keke Coutee has battled injuries throughout his career (playing in just 25 games out of a possible 48). But the former fourth-round pick has had 3 separate 100-yard games against the Colts. This is exactly the type of PS move to make. See if a guy, who has shown the ability to produce at a high level, can find better health and be of benefit to a position that the Colts could use some proven depth.

 

  • Thursday will be the final practice of the week/weekend for the Colts. They will re-gather on Monday to ramp up preparations for the September 12th season opener against the Seahawks.

Leave a Reply