INDIANAPOLIS – First-year quarterbacks coach Scott Milanovich has been quite the busy man this offseason.
Milanovich has already seen two different quarterbacks take starting reps in camp, seen his room add a veteran arm and now is facing uncertainty about the top guy on the depth chart.
Following the first day in full pads this week, Milanovich met some members of the media to share his thoughts on the QB room.
Here are some highlights from that:
Carson Wentz
As you’d expect, Milanovich loved what Wentz showed on that 8-of-10 day last Thursday, which also happened to be the same day the QB hurt his left foot.
“(Wentz) looked fantastic to me,” Milanovich said. “He’s worked so hard in the offseason on his feet, his drops, getting used to our guys. He looked mid-season form to me. Obviously, we’ll see what the rehab is going to be, but he’s tough and he’s a hard worker. He’ll be back as fast as he can be.”
Milanovich acknowledges that Wentz’s injury situation is definitely a bummer in terms of the QB’s growth and development with a new team.
“We don’t have that opportunity so he’s just going to have to move on,” the first-year QB coach says. “It would have been great obviously for him to be here. That’s what we would have hoped for. But at this point, we’ve got to do what we need to do to get ready.”
Jacob Eason
What has Milanovich thought of the new QB1 (for now)?
“Jacob is doing a good job. You have to take into consideration Jacob is essentially a rookie. He didn’t play a single snap last year, got very little reps in (camp). So he’s doing well. He’s working extra. His grasp of the offense, I’ve seen it change over the last month even with the limited offseason we’ve had. Obviously, a big strong guy that throws it great. Probably the two things that are most impressive about Jacob is No. 1, the guy hasn’t had any reps. Now he’s with the 1s and some guys you’ll see that look in their eye where it feels too big for them. It doesn’t (for him). He’s been in big spots before at Georgia. I think all those things have served him well. The other thing is he’s making mistakes but generally, he’s not making the same mistake twice. With more reps, he’s going to improve.
“Out here in the grass where there’s no defense, he’ll have the perfect steps, make the perfect reads. And then when you have limited reps and you go out there, those things change a little bit and then you have to see what you’re doing on the film and then the next time he comes back and he fixes it. It’s generally that thing with most young quarterbacks, coming down to alignment, location, reads, all those things.”
Milanovich has liked what Eason has brought off the field during meeting time.
“He’s excellent. He’s been meeting extra with us, takes ownership when he makes a mistake. He’s not a guy that is going to make an excuse, I think he’s a guy who is still probably learning what he likes because he doesn’t have the reps on these plays.”
One thing to note on how the Colts are handling things right now with Eason is that the playbook remains fully installed.
The Colts are not calling plays to a specific package that suits Eason, like they would for an actual game. They want to throw a little bit of everything at him and see how he handles things.
“For Jacob, this is ideal,” Milanovich says of the reps. “To get this amount of reps and this experience is going to accelerate his development so much faster than just getting a few reps. We are early in camp. It’s great for Jacob to get the reps. It’s great for us to see him and the other quarterbacks get the reps and get them ready for the season if we need them.”
When it comes to Milanovich examining Eason, he has a close eye on the QB’s response from some adversity.
“I like to see after a tough day, how does a guy respond?” Milanovich says. “We kind of saw that on the first day. That was a little bit tough when Carson was gone and then yesterday (Eason) had a great practice. So all those things are important and certainly you weigh those a little more.
“It’s a different look, a different attitude when (the Panthers) come to town. It’ll be a little bit more intense and we’ll be seeing things you haven’t seen and that’ll be a good test to see how you respond to that.”
Sam Ehlinger
The highlight from Tuesday’s end to practice was Sam Ehlinger leading a two-minute touchdown drive, going 7-of-10.
Milanovich liked that, and has seen first hand what he thought was there during the draft process.
“Sam is coming along quickly,” Milanovich says. “The mental part of the game, grasping the offense has come faster than most rookies, especially with not having a whole lot of an offseason. He’s progressing quickly. We are happy with his progression.
“We felt like that was his strength. He played a lot of football at Texas and has a lot of experience recognizing coverages, reading routes, different systems, too based on who their coordinators had been so not surprised.”
‘Poise’ is a word that Milanovich likes and the general command of what Ehlinger has brought, even when getting second-team reps.
“One of the comments I made in my (draft) report was he’s in control of the offense,” Milanovich says of Ehlinger. “You see that and feel that on film, even in our walk throughs here. Those are things that he’s definitely going to be good at.”
