Indianapolis Colts Football

ANDREW LUCK AND REGGIE WAYNE KNOW THE IMPORTANCE OF SECOND-YEAR RECEIVERS

There is a quartet of second-year receivers who Reggie Wayne labeled as “smurfs” last season.

Yes, the group might be small in stature but when it comes to production, Wayne knows their importance in 2013 and beyond.

Wayne has spoken to the young speedsters and the message was brief, but powerful.

“Just to get better,” Wayne said.

“We don’t have room right now to stay the same. You want to see everybody continue to grow, get better and build off of the year that they had last year.

Wayne includes himself in that group, yet it’s obvious that the other receivers have a ways to go before they achieve the numbers that No. 87 has piled up in 13 seasons.

During OTAs, LaVon Brazill, T.Y. Hilton, Nathan Palmer and Griff Whalen have all seen ample playing time with the first unit.

• For Brazill, it’s his first full offseason after academic obligations forced him to miss OTAs last season.

• Hilton has been a frequent target of Andrew Luck’s the past month and the electric receiver/returner has put on some weight this offseason in an effort to sustain an entire NFL season.

• Similar to Brazill, Palmer is getting his first taste of an offseason with the Colts after he was signed off the 49ers practice squad last September.

• Then there’s Whalen, who feels right at home in an offense he played in at Stanford while also feeling healthy after a foot injury sidelined him in 2012.

Luck was not bashful when describing how important his fellow second-year targets will be come September.

“Incredibly,” Luck said. “They are going to be a big, big part of this offense. They were a big part of it last year. They caught a lot of balls, a lot of big balls. For us to be productive we are going to have to have every man on the offensive side of the ball contribute.”

Just two lockers down from Luck, Wayne nods is head in agreement when he hears the need for young receivers to continue to grow.

Expectations in the Colts locker room include plans to play into late January and beyond.

For that to happen, it’s going to take a collective effort from players young and “old.”

“As a team, we set that bar so high, it is going to be tough. But if there is anybody that can do it, it is this coaching staff, it’s these guys in this locker room, it’s this whole organization,” Wayne said of the team’s lofty aspirations.

“We feel like we can go out there and can get better and have a better outcome this year.”

COLTS DAILY HEADLINES: JUNE 6TH EDITION

Each morning Colts.com will take a look at the top headlines surrounding the Indianapolis Colts from around the globe. What is the local and national media saying about the Colts?

Take a look below at the top five pieces from Thursday, June 6^th.

Colts looking for improvement at receiver

By: Mike Chappell, Indianapolis Star

Chappell takes a look at a pair of second-year receivers in T.Y. Hilton and LaVon Brazill and what they bring to the receiver position in 2013.

Hilton was at the top, or near it, in virtually every rookie receiving category but there’s one area he is looking to improve this fall.

“Right now I’m focusing on my drops from last year,” he said Wednesday. “I had way too many. That’s not like me.”

“That’s what bothered me,” he said. “I rarely drop passes. When they happen, I really get down on myself.”

Chappell’s notebook also takes a look at Brazill moving down in the locker room next to 13-year veteran Reggie Wayne.

Old Wayne learning new tricks with Colts

By: George Bremer, Anderson Herald Bulletin

Reggie Wayne was back in Indianapolis on Wednesday to take part in this week’s portion of OTAs for the Colts.

Over his 13 years in the NFL, Wayne has bounced back and forth between Miami and Indianapolis during this time of year but this week he felt the need to be up north.

It’s the second season that Wayne has worked with quarterback Andrew Luck and the Pro Bowl receiver continues to be amazed about how developed the signal caller is at the age of 23.

“He’s my quarterback so I’m going to be biased,” Wayne said. “It’s like he’s a seven-, eight-, nine-year vet. He’s handled everything extraordinarily well. He’s doing a great job. He’s talking in meetings, and he has a little hand up on everybody with this offense, and that’s even better. But he’s doing what a quarterback should. He’s being a leader and showing everybody what to do.”

Last year, Wayne talked about how the season made him feel young again with all the new faces and a new offensive scheme.

The calendar might have turned to 2013 but that feeling still runs deep with Wayne and he’s eager for a strong 2013.

“Last year opened my eyes a little bit,” Wayne said. “A lot of people think since you’ve got a young team, you are not going to do so well. But we were able to show a couple people what a young team can do. And I feel like we can do the same thing this year. If I’m not mistaken, we got like 32, 36 new faces again. So we just got to follow that same diagram as last year. And we got to top that one.”

Colts Notebook: Young WRs making strides

By: George Bremer, Anderson Herald Bulletin

In Bremer’s notebook, he also takes a look at the young receivers and how vital they will be in the Colts offense.

“They are going to be a big, big part of this offense,” Luck said of the young receivers. “They were a big part last year. They caught a lot of balls, a lot of big balls. For us to be productive, we are going to have to have every man on the offensive side of the ball contribute.”

Bremer goes on to share Colts first round pick Bjoern Werner’s excitement to head to Lucas Oil Stadium next Wednesday for the open minicamp practice.

“It’s awesome,” he said. “It’s the first time in the stadium so I can’t wait just to be in there. It’s the first time fans can see me practice, pretty pumped up.”

Colts in harmony with new coordinator Hamilton

By: Tom James, Terre Haute Tribune

The theme of Wednesday’s ninth OTA was Luck and Wayne, and James followed suit with a look at the progress of the offense in general.

“I think we’re rolling. I definitely think that we’ll take advantage of the rest of the OTAs [organized team activities] and what we have left. But heading into [mandatory] mini-camp [next week] will be big for us,” the Colts’ signal-caller said after Wednesday’s team workout.

“It will be nice to be out there. It’s been a positive segment so far. Let’s finish this segment [OTA workouts] out well and go to the next one [mandatory mini-camp].”

James also throws in notes about Bjoern Werner hanging out with the German National Soccer team and Andrew Luck’s trip to London.

YOUNG COLTS RECEIVERS GET CHANCE TO SHINE DURING OTAs

A total of 18 years of NFL experience was missing from the Colts wide receiver corps on Wednesday afternoon.

With Darrius Heyward-Bey and Reggie Wayne not participating in the Colts fifth OTA, the opportunity was there for first and second year receivers to make an impression with the first unit.

T.Y. Hilton highlighted the afternoon but it was a couple of other second year receivers who relished the chance to work extensively with Andrew Luck.

“Right now it’s valuable to get into a good relationship with Andrew,” LaVon Brazill said. “With DHB and Reggie not here, that will just build our confidence and build the trust with Andrew.”

Brazill caught 11 passes for 186 yards in his rookie campaign but now is in the process of learning a new offensive scheme in his first full set of OTAs after balancing school last offseason.

The offense is still a learning process for Brazill but he has shown flashes with some impressive catches over the past month.

CLICK HERE FOR A PHOTO GALLERY OF WEDNESDAY’S OTA

At the other end of the locker room is fellow second year receiver Nathan Palmer.

Last season, Palmer joined the Colts off the 49ers practice squad in late September and played in five games as an undrafted free agent.

Palmer feels like he’s on even ground in 2013 as he enters his first offseason with an offense virtually all at the same learning curve.

“I get to start fresh with everybody, instead of just right into the fire into the middle of things,” Palmer said. “I get to learn the offense from the ground-up, on the same pace as everyone else.”

Before long DHB and Wayne will return and the young, speedy receivers will be blended in with the veterans to complete Luck’s targets.

But for Wednesday, it was a youth movement on the Colts practice field and that was just fine with Palmer.

“Anytime you get a chance to step up in the absence of guys that are starting, it’s a good time to get out there, get more reps than you normally don’t get and just try to take advantage of the opportunity that you have,” Palmer said.

 

COLTS HEADLINES: MAY 9TH EDITION

Each morning Colts.com will take a look at the top headlines surrounding the Indianapolis Colts from around the globe. What is the local and national media saying about the Colts?

Take a look below at the top five pieces from Thursday, May 9th:

Indianapolis Colts Add to Young, Interesting Receiving Corps

By: Eric Ivie, Yahoo! Sports

Ivie breaks down the 10 receivers that are currently on the Colts roster.

He points out that the Colts have just two receivers with more than two years of experience in the NFL (Reggie Wayne and Darrius Heyward-Bey).

It will be an extremely competitive summer for this Colts position group as one would think that second-year receivers T.Y. Hilton and LaVon Brazill have a firm grip on their roster spots (along with Wayne and Heyward-Bey).

The final few spots at the receiver position will be up for grabs with returnees Griff Whalen and Nathan Palmer competing with four newcomers to complete a position group that has a variety of options.

1,000 Colts season tickets going on sale

By: Mike Chappel, Indianapolis Star

At 10:00 a.m. this morning, the Colts will have 1,000 upper-level season tickets for sale to the public.

The season ticket sales for the Colts have been in high demand this offseason.

Fans can head to www.colts.com to take a virtual tour of Lucas Oil Stadium and see the seats remaining.

To purchase tickets, fans can either go online to www.colts.com or call (317) 299-4946.

INSTANT REACTION: DARRIUS HEYWARD-BEY SIGNED BY COLTS

The anticipation of who would be joining the Colts wide receiver corps came to a close late Monday evening.

After tweets and names were thrown around for the last couple of weeks, the mystery has been solved on the new addition to an already dynamic group of wideouts.

Former first-round draft pick Darrius Heyward-Bey is the newest Colt and continues an offseason of additions for a Colts team coming off an 11-5 regular season.

How does this acquisition impact the Colts?

During the 2012 training camp, wide receiver Reggie Wayne called his fellow receiving corps the fastest that he has ever seen during his then 12 seasons in a Colts uniform.

That notion won’t be changing any time soon with the signing of Heyward-Bey.

With Heyward-Bey in the fold, his sub 4.3 40-yard dash speed should fill the role of departing receiver Donnie Avery.

Heyward-Bey provides Colts quarterback Andrew Luck another electric target that simply needs the ball in his hands to showcase the speed that earned him the No. 7 selection in the 2009 NFL Draft.

Besides Avery, the Colts return every other offensive contributor that gained at least 100 yards of offense last season.

At the receiver position, Wayne will once again lead the group. The Pro Bowl receiver is coming off an 106-catch, 1,355-yard season.

T.Y. Hilton finished second among all rookie receivers with 861 receiving yards despite not being selected until the 92^nd pick of the 2012 NFL Draft.

Fellow rookie LaVon Brazill, who Wayne called perhaps the fastest of the bunch in 2012, showed flashes of big play potential in his first season.

Colts general manager Ryan Grigson has also mentioned 2012 undrafted free agent Griff Whalen as a player who could see his chances grow in 2013. Whalen spent his rookie season on injured reserve but the Stanford product is now reunited with college offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton.

All these weapons will be at Luck’s disposal in 2013, along with top two rookie tight ends in the NFL (Dwayne Allen and Coby Fleener), giving the Colts one of the more versatile air attacks in the league.

Colts News and More From Around the Web

COLTS NEWS (LOCAL AND NATIONAL)
Next free-agent wide receiver up for Colts?
Can Indy’s big-league efforts outrun small-town image?

COLTS.COM
2013 Positional Series: wide receivers
Heisman trophy finalist Klein might be switching positions
Colts Mailbag

NFL NEWS
Texans visit with free-agent fullback Jones
Right tackle, safety market dry
Tennessee Titans filled big gaps but have work to do
Osi Umenyiora headed to Falcons
Chargers release tackle Gaither
Jaguars QB Blaine Gabbert on anonymous criticism: ‘Say it to me’

AFC TEAM NEWS
Patriots may see light
Jets looking at Landry’s brother to fill safety hole

NFC TEAM NEWS
Former NY Giants linebacker Chase Blackburn finds new home with Carolina Panthers
Louis leaves Bears for Dolphins

GRIGSON TALKS CHAPMAN, BRAZILL, WHALEN AND THE SAFETY POSITION

During Monday evening’s conference call with season ticket holders, Colts GM Ryan Grigson answered numerous questions from fans.

Here is an article highlighting some of Grigson’s answers.

Below are a few of the extra tidbits that were not included in the article above. The highlights below are Grigson’s thoughts about some of the lesser-known members of the Colts 2012 rookie class and how he sees LaRon Landry fitting in at the safety position alongside Antoine Bethea:

On the progress of 2012 fifth round draft pick Josh Chapman, who missed the entire season recovering from an ACL injury that he had surgery on in January of 2012:

“Josh Chapman was someone that we feel very highly towards. He was a guy that should have been drafted a lot of higher but he played (his senior season) with a torn ACL and that kind of shows you what kind of guy he is. Most guys don’t play on it. He played through the whole season, won a National Championship and he was the one hoisting the trophy at the end. He’s a huge man, 350-360 pounds, quick-footed guy that I think is going to make a big difference for us in the run game. He’s somebody that you can look forward to seeing out there this year.”

On the development of sixth round draft pick LaVon Brazill, who caught 11 passes for 186 yards and a touchdown in 2012.

-LaVon Brazill had some great flashes of brilliance against Detroit and some other games as a vertical threat. He’s big. He’s strong and he can get off press (coverage). He’s been a really good special teamer and made some plays as a gunner on our punt team. He’s a guy, as a sixth round pick, I think will continue to grow.”

On the prospect of undrafted free agent wide receiver Griff Whalen and if he could follow in the mold of other successful undrafted slot receivers in the NFL:

-We feel that we have a pretty good young, slot receiver in Griff Whalen. He would have played and probably caught a lot of balls for us this past year had he not broken his foot.

On the safety position with Pro Bowlers LaRon Landry lining up next to Antoine Bethea moving forward:

-They will play side-by-side. In Chuck’s defense, I think we will have the best safety tandem in the NFL. I really do. They are two of the best at their position. They’ll be just fine back their together. I think Antoine was one of the first players to even react to the signing because the culture we have is ‘we just want to win.’ We are not worried about the other things, ‘we just want to win.’ Players and true champions, they want the best around them. They want to play with the best players.”

LUCK REFLECTS ON SEASON WHILE IN NEW ORLEANS

Andrew Luck is nearly a month into his first NFL offseason, yet he can’t seem to get away from football.

Earlier this week, Luck threw a game-high 205 yards and two touchdowns at the Pro Bowl.

Now, the Colts signal caller is making the rounds at Super Bowl XLVII in New Orleans and sat down with Adam Schein and Rich Gannon on ‘The SiriusXM Biltz’ to recap his rookie season.

“It was a lot of fun especially just to be in the thick of things come December,” Luck said on radio row. “It was fun for our draft class, T.Y. Hilton, LaVon Brazill, Vick Ballard, the tight ends to be able to contribute.

“It was really a big testament to Reggie Wayne and Rob Mathis sort of leading us and showing us how to be professionals and how to get the job done.”

The blend of youth and experience was managed just right to place the Colts back into a familiar state of taking part in meaningful games during the month of January.

“From the veteran side, I think they were so accepting of us and accommodating and would take time out of their day to maybe show us ‘don’t do this, or you don’t need to be going over here,” Luck said.

“And I think the rookies sort of realizing that we are rookies, keep your mouths shut and put your egos aside. It was a great locker room atmosphere. It really was and I do think that helped a lot in trying to win some football games.”

Luck admitted that he is having trouble trying to ‘digest’ everything he experienced during his rookie campaign.

An 11-win season came after dealing with numerous unforeseen circumstances that only added to the impressive debut by Luck.

“When coach (Chuck) Pagano went down, it was weird, it was tough,” Luck said. “What a great job coach (Bruce) Arians did of stepping in and keeping coach Pagano’s message going and keeping us on the right track.”

“There’s so many good people in the organization, so many good people in the locker room that everything just seemed to work out. Whether it was meant to or not, it just seemed to work out.”

2012 COLTS DRAFT CLASS EXTENDS PAST THE BIG NAMES FOR GRIGSON

If Ryan Grigson’s future draft classes can come close to mirroring the same amount of success his first one in Indianapolis accomplished than the Colts will be a force for the years to come.

The rookie class amassed an NFL record 3,108 yards this season thanks to a handful of skill position players.

Defensively, fifth round pick Josh Chapman is still waiting in the wings after the defensive tackle missed the entire season rehabbing a knee injury.

Grigson beams when talking about his rookie class but he also adds a few names to that group.

What about Bradley Sowell?

The Colts plucked the undrafted free agent off the Tampa Bay Buccaneers practice squad on Sept. 11 and Sowell played in 10 games this season.

“Bradley Sowell is a guy, I think he has true left tackle ability,” Grigson said. “It will make himself more valuable if he settles in at right so he can play both.”

Sowell saw his most playing time in the AFC Wild Card loss to the Ravens when he was thrust into action after right tackle Winston Justice went down with an injury in the first quarter.

“Brad is going to be a much better player because of that experience. He fought his tail off.” The Colts GM said

What about Lawrence Guy?

With the defensive line ravaged with injuries, Guy was signed off the Green Bay Packers practice squad on Oct. 17 and played nine games, including starting the final three contests of the year.

Grigson also points to Nathan Palmer, who was signed off the San Francisco 49ers after going undrafted, as a receiver that the General Manger calls ‘about as explosive a receiver we have.’

The headliners from this rookie class will still be Luck, Hilton Ballard, Allen etc. but it’s the guys on the backend of the roster that Grigson points to in completing a group that will play a leading role in the future of the Colts.

“Getting those guys is exciting because those are guys that we looked at in the draft and we were able to get without burning a pick,” Grigson said.

“It may be a warped view but I feel like those guys we poached from other teams practice squads early this season, those guys to me feel like draft picks. The nice thing about that is it’s only going to serve us well in the future because what we’ve been through this year as a team and as human beings.”

WHAT SCARES NFL TEAMS?–SPEED

The influx of speed came via the draft and free agency.

As the players, and particularly the wide receivers, trickled into the Indiana Farm Bureau Football Center this past offseason there was no denying what they would be bringing to the Colts.

Speed. Speed. And more speed.

“To me, the old adage speed kills is a true statement,” Colts general manager Ryan Grigson said. “No matter how you slice it, speed is something that shows up on film, it shows up throughout the scouting process. It’s one thing that scares the heck out of people.”

There was the signing of free agent Donnie Avery who ran a sub 4.3 40-yard dash in becoming the first wide receiver selected in the 2008 NFL Draft. Avery had a career year in Indianapolis with 60 catches for 781 yards.

The speed movement did not stop in free agency with the Colts drafting a pair of receivers known for stretching the field.

T.Y. Hilton ran a 4.34 40-yard dash at his pro day and his big play ability led to 861 receiving yards and his seven receiving touchdowns topped all rookies.

Fellow rookies LaVon Brazill and Nathan Palmer have also been timed in the 4.4/4.3 range in the 40-yard dash.

When training camp got under away, wide receiver Reggie Wayne was in awe of the speed that he saw in his position group.

Wayne wanted to get a race set up between the speedsters with the 12-year veteran serving as merely an observer.

“Just make sure I’m at the finish line, not in there (the race),” Wayne said with a smile back during training camp.

“We have some burners. That’s something we really haven’t had in the past. We’ve had one here, two there, but we have quite a few of them right now. It makes it all fun, guys are out there just acting like they’re in the Olympics.”

During Grigson’s time in Philadelphia, the Eagles were known for their electric playmakers at the skill positions and that attribute has been brought to the Colts.

“When (Chicago wide receiver/kick returner) Devin Hester walks out on the field people get scared,” Grigson said. “People get scared of it’s not because of his size or that he looks mean, it’s because he can flat out fly.”

“And it doesn’t matter how you try to defend it, if you mess up one time it could be six points. If you don’t play to your technique perfectly it’s going to cost you.”

Grigson is hoping that speed costs Colts opponents for years to come.