INDIANAPOLIS – It was two days of competitive work for the Colts and Lions at Grand Park.
Ahead of Saturday’s preseason home opener, the Colts and Lions held another joint practice on Thursday, one that didn’t include any fights or dustups.
Here is what was learned at Thursday’s 12th practice of camp:
- Matt Ryan finished Thursday afternoon 9-of-12 with completions to the following guys: Michael Pittman (5), Mo Alie-Cox (1), Jelani Woods (1), Ashton Dulin (1), Jonathan Taylor (1). After another nice start for the passing offense, things stalled out in a 2-minute drill to end practice. You could chalk up all 3 of Ryan’s incompletions on Thursday to drops by Michael Pittman, Kylen Granson and Parris Campbell. Through 12 practices, Ryan is 109-of-157 in the full teamwork. Ryan’s completed his passes to the following guys: Michael Pittman (35), Kylen Granson (14), Mo Alie-Cox (14), Jonathan Taylor (12), Nyheim Hines (10), Parris Campbell (8), Alec Pierce (5), Ashton Dulin (5), Drew Ogletree (3), Jelani Woods (1), Dezmon Patmon (1), Keke Coutee (1).
- Some more offensive notes from Thursday: It was a much better start to the run game for the Colts. But in a live goal-line situation, the Lions dominated the line of scrimmage with both their starters and backups. The Colts had a fumble on a 3rd-and-Goal when Deon Jackson couldn’t handle the hand off from Matt Ryan. Unlike on Wednesday, the Colts had 12 red-zone snaps on Thursday, across the starters and backups, and didn’t score a TD. In a two-minute drill to end practice (1:10 on the clock from the Colts 35-yard line), both the starters and second team failed to record an first down. Now, Frank Reich did decline a pass interference penalty on a 3rd down, wanting to set up a 4th down chance for his team. Parris Campbell dropped that 4th down pass from Matt Ryan, which came after a Kylen Granson drop on 2nd down. Nick Foles and the 2nd team offense then went 4-and-out.
- Word from the Colts defense/Lions offense side of the field was a decent day for Jared Goff. Rookie Nick Cross had a busted coverage which led to a long Lions TD. The Colts had some issues with Lions running backs D’Andre Swift and Jamaal Williams.
- Thursday brought another day of kicking, and it was Rodrigo Blankenship furthering his gap on Jake Verity. Blankenship was good from 33, 40, 45, 50 and 54 yards. Verity made from 33, 40, 45, 50 and then missed right from 54. Could Saturday be Verity’s final time in a Colts uniform, with the cut to 80 coming next Tuesday?
- Rookie Jelani Woods had a nice afternoon, following the torn ACL by fellow rookie Drew Ogletree on Wednesday. Woods made 3 catches in team drills, 2 from Nick Foles and his first 11-on-11 catch from Matt Ryan. The Colts need Woods now. He’s had ups and downs this camp, but they need for him to continue the better stretch he’s had since last week’s preseason opener. Speaking of Ogletree, Frank Reich said on Thursday that the rookie tight end did tear his ACL, but no other damage to his injured right knee. The recovery time is 9 months.
- How about some kudos to Frank Reich and Dan Campbell and their football teams? In today’s NFL, you are just waiting for the fights to happen at joint practices. Well, the Colts and Lions practiced together for 3 total hours on Wednesday and Thursday and I saw just one extracurricular “fight,” which lasted about 20-30 seconds before both teams got back to work. It is very rare to see teams hold these joint sessions and be able to execute them without several fight interruptions (just look at the Bucs and Titans or Panthers and Patriots this week).
- In the early part of Thursday’s practice, you saw the big bodies of the Colts pass catchers on full display. It was Mike Strachan, Mo Alie-Cox, Michael Pittman and Jelani Woods all posting up to make catches against the Lions. It was another reminder of the strength of the Colts pass catchers, and that’s their sheer size.
- Looking ahead to Saturday’s preseason home opener with the Lions: Frank Reich said the Colts will sit most of their starters, and it sounds like Dan Campbell will do the same. The plan is for Nick Foles to play around a quarter, with Sam Ehlinger then entering and playing a little more. Undrafted rookie Jack Coan will close out the game.
- Another week at Grand Park and Shaquille Leonard remains on the physically unable to perform list. That leaves 3 weeks for Leonard to practice until the season opens on September 11th. Again, Leonard’s availability for Week 1 remains very much up in air. He’s the only Colts starter to have missed any practice in training camp. Zaire Franklin continues to be the linebacker next to Bobby Okereke, with E.J. Speed coming on the field when the Colts go to their 3-linebacker package.
- A group that my worry has grown for in the past week is the reserve offensive line. Currently, the Colts don’t have a single healthy backup offensive lineman who has started a game in the NFL. That’s a far cry from last year’s OL depth. Now, OT-Dennis Kelly (51 career starts) has not practiced since the early days at Grand Park, after he injured his knee and needed a procedure. Nick Foles has had some struggles playing behind a struggling second-team O-line.
- With Isaiah Rodgers (concussion) out on Thursday, the Colts used DeMichael Harris as the first kick returner.
- Here is how the starting offense looked on Thursday: QB-Matt Ryan, RB-Jonathan Taylor, WR-Michael Pittman, WR-Parris Campbell, WR-Ashton Dulin, TE-Mo Alie-Cox, LT-Matt Pryor, LG-Quenton Nelson, C-Ryan Kelly, RG-Danny Pinter, RT-Braden Smith.
- Here is how the starting defense looked on Thursday: DE-Yannick Ngakoue, DT-Grover Stewart, DT-DeForest Buckner, DE-Kwity Paye, LB-Zaire Franklin, LB-Bobby Okereke, CB-Kenny Moore, CB-Stephon Gilmore, CB-Brandon Facyson, S-Julian Blackmon, S-Nick Cross.
- Guys that stood out at Thursday’s practice for a variety of reasons: TE-Jelani Woods, WR-Michael Pittman, RB-Nyheim Hines.
Injury Report: The following players remain on the PUP or non-football injury list: LB-Shaquille Leonard (back/ankle). The following players also did not practice on Thursday: DT-Chris Williams (left foot), OT-Dennis Kelly (knee), WR-Keke Coutee (groin), CB-Isaiah Rodgers (concussion), LB-JoJo Domann (undisclosed), S-Armani Watts (undisclosed), S-Will Redmond (undisclosed).
Weekly Camp Schedule
-Friday: Off day
-Saturday: Preseason home opener 1:00 vs. Lions
-Sunday: Off day
-Monday: Off day
-Tuesday: 12:00 – 1:45 Practice
-Wednesday: 12:00 – 1:45 Practice
-Thursday: 10:00 – 11:20 Final camp practice
