Indianapolis Colts Football

DAILY CLIPS: APRIL 18TH

COLTS NEWS (LOCAL AND NATIONAL)
Indianapolis Cols QB Andrew Luck’s goals for Year 2? Win a title, get better at everything
Colts former GM Bill Polian: ‘you’ve got to try and win every game’
Colts notes: LB Pat Angerer rebounding from second surgery on broken foot
Indianapolis Colts’ best draft picks: No. 4, DE Dwight Freeney
Colts offseason conditioning: what’s new after getting reacquainted in locker room
Sizing up the Colts’ pre-NFL draft roster: linebackers
Colts Notebook: Vinatieri expects warm welcome for Manning
Indianapolis Colts cheerleader: Most amazing feeling in the world
Colts’ new-look offense defies definition

COLTS.COM
2013 NFL Draft: Defensive tackles
Colts Mailbag
Colts top draft pick: tight end
Only going to get better

AFC SOUTH BLOG
On enthusiasm at the start for Jaguars
A look at Titans’ unofficial depth chart
Another Mel mock? You bet!
On AFC South and 2010 draft’s first round

NFL NEWS
Ertz, Eifert top NFL prospects at tight end
Antioch’s Quinton Patton races toward NFL
Jaguars Notebook: Blaine Gabbert not worried about possibility of drafting QB
Clay Matthews signs extension
Peyton Manning wants faster offense
No perfect time

AFC TEAM NEWS
Tim Tebow may or may not be in competition for NY Jets’ QB job, says GM John Idzik
Jaworski likens Manuel to Kaepernick

NFC TEAM NEWS
NY Giants’ Justin Tuck says team won’t miss Victor Cruz until Week 1 of NFL season
Lack of mental errors pleases Bears’ Trestman

TIME AWAY FROM THE COMPLEX OFFERS A VARIETY OF ACTIVITIES FOR COLTS

Nearly all of the Colts players have returned to the Indiana Farm Bureau Football Center and while the conditioning and learning of new faces/schemes dominated the news on Wednesday afternoon, a few players offered what they did during their time away.

Center Samson Satele

Satele went back to his home state of Hawaii and took a trip to the wilderness to do some hiking with his wife.

“We did three hikes in Hawaii. It’s fun. As soon as you get to the top, it all pays off because then you get the view. I’ve lived there my entire life but this was my first time I ever went hiking.”

Safety Joe Lefeged

Growing up in colder climates his entire life, Lefeged got away from an unfriendly winter and ventured down to the Bahamas.

“It was my first time out of the states and the weather was beautiful. Coming from the Indiana weather and then back to the Maryland weather, the winters are pretty rough so getting away a bit felt good.”

Inside Linebacker Pat Angerer

A foot injury kept Angerer in Indianapolis for the offseason but the fourth-year linebacker made the most of his time at home with his one-and-a-half-year-old son, Cael.

“I was here all offseason just hanging with my boy. I think that’s the best part about this sport. You have three months off just to spend time off with your son, your wife and your family. I’m very lucky and fortunate to have that.”

Tight End Dwayne Allen

Allen had little time to rest after a record-setting rookie campaign. The former Clemson tight end has been bouncing around between Indiana and South Carolina trying to finish up his final 13 credits.

“I’m actually going back this weekend so I’m going to miss a couple days next week, but it’s one of my priorities this offseason to get that degree. It is tough because you try your hardest to stay up on your academics and also on your training so you don’t lose your job. But I set my graduating as a priority this offseason so it was important to me.”

GRINDER OF SCHEDULE

The combine is underway today with players working on the field, getting medical examinations and going through media sessions with a press horde that should top 800 by the end of the process.

It is a very important time for players, and Pat Angerer remembers what he went through.

“I wouldn’t say it was super stressful.  You go on little sleep, and they don’t have food for you.  That’s the biggest challenge,” said Angerer.

This is one of the final job interviews a player can go through from college to the NFL.  After having games attended by scouts throughout a player’s career, having to go through drills is not a fond process for some players, while others don’t mind.

Angerer understood many NFL personnel types saw everything he did at Iowa.  He thought the combine drills could have been a duplication of effort.  Being a football guy through and through, Angerer bucked up and used the combine to his advantage.

“You’re game are on film, and they (teams) know what you can do,” said Angerer.  “It’s cool talking to the coaches and you’re competing.  That’s what makes it fun.  You’re competing against other people.”

Angerer had the prevailing thought that his body of on-field work would determine his fate.

“It doesn’t matter what 40(-yard dash) time you run,” said Angerer.  “If you’re a good football player, you’re a good football player.”

Angerer was one of about 333 players at his combine.  There is a huge class available every year.  When he went through it, the combine gave him a chance to meet people beyond being opponents.

“I got a chance to meet guys who I had played against but didn’t have a chance to talk to.  That was cool, guys from Penn State and Minnesota,” said Angerer.  “Those were guys you met and respected.  It was nice hanging out with them.”

FREEMAN HAS GONE FROM UNDRAFTED TO AMONG THE LEAGUE’S TOP TACKLERS

The fact that Jerrell Freeman finds himself in the top five tacklers in the league this season is astonishing considering his path to the NFL compared to others.

Of the players that rank first through fourth in tackles (Freeman is fifth with 101), each was selected in the top 35 picks of their respective draft class (Jerod Mayo 10^th overall, Chad Greenway 17^th, James Laurinaitis 35^th and Luke Kuechly 9^th).

And then there’s Freeman, who went undrafted after 252 picks in 2008, 37 of which were linebackers.

A brief stint in Tennessee didn’t pan out, and after three seasons in the Canadian Football League, Freeman has now become an instant leader for a Colts defense that needed someone to step up when 2011 leading tackler Pat Angerer suffered a foot injury in preseason.

“The kid’s come out of nowhere and become the core of our defense,” Colts interim head coach Bruce Arians said of Freeman. “Fourteen, 15, 16 tackles a week. Sideline-to-sideline, his speed and the plays that he makes, I don’t know where we’d be without him.

While being in charge of the calls for the Colts new hybrid 3-4 defense, Freeman has racked up double-digit tackle games in five games this season.

When Angerer went down in the preseason opener, many wondered where the Colts defense would turn for at least the early part of the regular season.

Freeman has been the guy to solve all those questions and much more.

“I expected to come in and do everything I needed to do to make the team,” Freeman said to ‘Voice of the Colts’ Bob Lamey on Monday’s ‘Pagano Show.’

“Luckily for me, I made the team and I guess I’ve been put into a position to make those plays.”

Following his 16-tackle performance against the Bills last weekend the nickname of ‘Baby Ray’, in reference to Ravens All-Pro linebacker Ray Lewis, was heard all around the Colts locker room.

Freeman is one of a plethora of new faces that have been asked to take on expanded roles this season and the easy going nature of the Colts locker room has helped ease the transition for him.

“It’s just family all the way around whether you’re the top guy, top dog here or the low man on the totem pole,” Freeman said. “Everybody gets treated the same, like brothers, like a family.”

On the field, Freeman considers himself a ‘sideline-to-sideline’ type player and is excelling in a system that he wasn’t familiar with before arriving in Indianapolis earlier this year.

From a hidden gem to among the league’s top defenders, Freeman has gone from ‘just trying to make the roster’ to an integral part of a potential playoff team.

“We’re really happy we have (Freeman) on our football team because he’s turned into a whale of a football player and really our defensive leader. He’s gotten game balls. He’s been a captain,” Arians said.

“It’s a great honor for a young player like to him to jump into this group of veteran group of guys on defense and then call him ‘Baby Ray.’”

THURSDAY’S MEETING CLOSES OUT SEASON SERIES WITH JAGUARS

Beginning the second half of their regular schedule, the Colts will conclude their first season series of the year on Thursday night.

The Jaguars knocked off the Colts 22-17 on Sept. 22, which still stands as the lone home loss for Indianapolis on the season.

In a short week, both teams have the benefit of facing a familiar opponent but it’s the Colts with the sour taste after a final-minute loss in the Week 3.

“It was one of those games that like you said, got away from us,” defensive end Cory Redding said. “At the end of the day they made plays and we still at that point were making little mistakes, beating ourselves and have definitely come a long way since that game and learned a lot from that game. Hopefully we’ll carry those lesions from that game down to Jacksonville and have a different outcome.”

Colts inside linebacker Pat Angerer didn’t play in the team’s first meeting against the Jaguars but was on the field for a pair of losses last season.

“They kicked our butt twice last year and beat us once this year,” Angerer said. “Obviously, it would be really nice to get them.”

Preparation time is limited for the Colts this week as the team will board a plane Wednesday afternoon to head down to Jacksonville.

Quarterback Andrew Luck will get his first look at an NFL defense for the second time in his rookie season and assessed the unit his offense will be facing on Thursday night.

“A very tough, hard nosed team, very disciplined defensively,” Luck said. “I thought they did a good job of creating turnovers. I know we turned the ball over at a couple inopportune times. We know it’s going to be a tough test down at their place, a tough division game.”

In the team’s first meeting, Luck led the offense on a five-play, 48-yard drive in the final two minutes that set up a 37-yard field goal by Adam Vinatieri, giving the Colts a 17-16 lead.

But with only 56 seconds remaining, the Jaguars needed just one play to cover 80 yards thanks to wide receiver Cecil Short outrunning the Colts defense for the game winning score.

“We let that one slip away. That last play was tough to swallow,” safety Antoine Bethea said. “That’s in the rearview mirror. We have the game on Thursday. Hopefully, we can bounce back.”

For interim head coach/offensive coordinator Bruce Arians and the coaching staff, a normal Wednesday schedule fell on Monday for the Colts this week. Tuesday’s practice will be a combination of what a normal Thursday and Friday would be like.

The Jaguars stand at 1-7 on the season but Arians agreed with the assessment that they were a ‘wounded animal’ and made sure his team would hear that message.

“This team, they’ve been in some great games over the years, especially there. It’s a division game, on the road, and it’s the next one up,” Arians said on Monday. “It’s a short week and our guys need to know, and they will know in about 20 minutes, how important it’s going to be.”

Halftime Adjustments on Defense Spur Colts to Victory.

For the Colts, Sunday’s halftime was about more than marching bands. It was a time to make adjustments. Despite holding an edge in total yards and time of possession, the Colts trailed the Miami Dolphins on the scoreboard 17-13 when they headed to the locker room after the first 30 minutes.

There, said Colts defenders after the game, the Colts coaching staff made some adjustments that were the key to securing the 23-20 victory that sent them to 5-3.

The first half saw the Colts surrender three scoring drives, two that went for Miami touchdowns. A big part of the Dolphins’ first half success was there third down efficiency where they converted three of five times. That allowed Miami to string together their two touchdown drives. The other was a schematic advantage.

The Dolphins offense seemed to have the Colts defense guessing the entire half. Dwight Freeney confirmed that after the game, revealing that the Colts’ defense was “off balance” most of the first half. Several times the Dolphins caught the Colts defense in mismatches where a Colts linebacker was in single coverage against a running back or wide receiver. One such time was the Dolphins first touchdown where running back Charles Clay beat linebacker Pat Angerer for a 31 yard touchdown pass.

To a man, the Colts’ defenders credited their coaches for making the necessary adjustments at the half that would limit the Dolphins to only three second half points. Angerer admitted that he was beaten in coverage, but credited the coaches for making the necessary changes at the half.

“We adjusted and changed it up (coverages). The coaches made some good adjustments and that’s a credit to them. We just did what they told us to do.”

Fellow linebacker Justin Hickman echoed Angerer’s praise for the coaches:

“They’ve done a great job all year making halftime adjustments. The guys in the (press)box are doing a great job. They come in and give us a break down so we can make plays in the second half.”

The difference was night and day. The Dolphins converted only one third down in six second half attempts. Where the Dolphins only had to punt once in the first half, they were forced to punt three times in the second half and turned the ball over on downs on their final possession.

While Cory Redding acknowledge the adjustments made, he also credited his teammates for stepping up and changing their approach in the second half:

“It’s attitude, attitude, attitude. It was us putting our foot down, saying enough is enough and going out and making plays to win the game.”

In particular, Redding was complimentary of his defensive linemates who looked like video game opponents in the first half while Reggie Bush juked his way into the end zone. Redding said their refusal to point fingers and stay together enabled them to stop Bush in the second half. The Dolphins gained only 23 yards on the ground in the second half.

Because the defense made plays and got the Dolphins off the field, Andrew Luck and the offense were able to make enough plays to give the Colts the lead. In the end, that team effort has the Colts heading to Jacksonville on Thursday at 5-3 and very much in the thick of the playoff conversation halfway through the season.

Chuck Chapman is entering his second season as the editor and lead writer for Colts 101. He also covered the Cincinnati Bengals for the Sports Media 101. Chuck and his family are originally from Ohio, but have settled in Central Indiana and become big Colts fans. You can read Chuck’s other writing about the Colts at www.colts101.com.

ANGERER’S RETURN MEANS A LITTLE DEPTH TO DEPLETED DEFENSE

‘Depth’ is not a word that has been used very often when talking about the Colts roster this season.

Injuries have caused for weekly introductions between new teammates as players try to get to know who they will be lining up next to each week.

One position that is starting to have the ‘depth’ word thrown around is inside linebacker.

Colts 2011 leading tackler Pat Angerer returned to the lineup on Sunday and looked like he never missed a beat.

Angerer had six tackles on Sunday and a pair of quarterback hurries on Brandon Weeden.

“It was fun,” Angerer said. “When you are away from it so long, you don’t think you got it anymore. It was nice to finally hit somebody.”

Bruce Arians said the staff wanted around 20 snaps for Angerer on Sunday and were able to achieve a number that should increase as his conditioning improves.

Angerer combined with leading tackler Jerrell Freeman on Sunday and along with three-year starter Kavell Conner, the Colts have a trio of young, aggressive linebackers.

“I hope we’ll see a lot of that,” Arians said of the Angerer and Freeman combination. “We purposely put Pat at the Mike position so that they could get out there together.”

“Not that Kavell was doing anything wrong but when you’ve got double-digit tacklers out there at the same time who are extremely quick and showed up in crunch time in that ball game. It was nice we hit the number of snaps for Pat pretty close to where we wanted, about 22.”

For the past three seasons, Angerer and Conner have been mainstays in the linebacker corps. When Angerer went down in the preseason opener, uncertainty surrounded a position that seemed to be set in stone.

Enter Freeman.

Fresh out of the Canadian football league, Freeman has led the Colts in tackles in each game this season.

It’s a great problem to have on where to play three hungry, young linebackers and Arians assures that each will be in the action moving forward.

“There’s a spot for all those guys and you always want to keep a role for everybody,” Arians said.

COLTS FACE UNCERTAINITY AMONG FRONT SEVEN

Trying to guess who the Colts will have available in the front seven of the defense on Sunday is like solving a 1,000-piece puzzle.

Inside linebackers Jerrell Freeman and Kavell Conner, defensive end Cory Redding and nose tackle Antonio Johnson are the four players in the front seven who have been in the starting lineup for each of the Colts five games this season.

After those four, it has been a wait and see approach week-to-week for defensive coordinator Greg Manusky.

For the second straight week, the Colts will be without defensive tackle Fili Moala.

Outside linebacker Robert Mathis is hoping to return to the lineup after missing the Jets game with a knee injury.

Redding’s status is up in the air after leaving the Jets game in the first half.

Inside linebacker Pat Angerer is looking to see his first action of the season as a foot injury during the preseason has sidelined the Colts leading tackler from last season.

The Colts are already without nose tackles Brandon McKinney and Martin Tevaseu.

Defensive linemen Ricardo Matthews and Drake Nevis have seen action in every game this season and their health has been critical among a defensive front that has seen its fair share of fronts.

Currently three Colts defensive linemen on the active roster have been in Indianapolis for less than two weeks (defensive end Clifton Geathers was signed on Oct. 3, nose tackle Antonio Dixon was signed on Oct. 9 and defensive end Lawrence Guy was signed on Tuesday).

Offensive coordinator/interim head coach Bruce Arians doesn’t know who will be out there on Sunday, but can’t thank his staff enough for dealing with so many new faces.

“It’s a credit to the coaching staff to do what they’re doing. Our backup defensive line right now has a cumulative after today 10 practices. So, that’s a lot of new.”

“(Defensive line) Coach (Gary) Emanuel is earning his paycheck and he’s doing a heck of a job and we’ll see how it goes. We might get fortunate enough to get a couple guys back and they won’t have to play. But we’ll get ready for them to play and we’ll see how it goes.”

Freeman, the Colts leading tackler, hasn’t been in the NFL for more than a year but even he admitted that it seems like he’s introducing himself on a daily basis.

“New guys coming every day. That’s just the nature of this business,” Freeman said. “People come and go all the time. I just have to do what I can to keep my spot, keep my position.”

The middle of the front seven has remained intact (Johnson, Freeman and Conner) through the first five games but it’s the outside that has needed to be reshuffled.

Outside linebacker Dwight Freeney missed two of the first three games of the season and the Colts are still waiting to get their Pro Bowl duo on the outside together for longer than one game.

Mathis considers himself a fast healer and while he is hoping to play this weekend, he knows whoever is on that active roster must accomplish the task they were brought in to do.

“Whoever’s out there has to do their job. Everybody is here because they are special in some way. If you are on the field, you have to do your job, whether it’s pass rushing, defending passes, or throwing passes. You just have to get the job done.”

FREEMAN DOING MORE THAN JUST ‘FILLING IN’

Even Chuck Pagano didn’t see this coming.

When linebacker Pat Angerer suffered a foot injury following the preseason opener against the Rams, the names behind him weren’t well known to Colts fans.

Jerrell Freeman was at the top of the list.

A product of Mary Hardin-Baylor, Freeman is fulfilling a lifelong NFL dream after three seasons in the Canadian Football League.

“Every time we get done, I look at the stat sheet and see 13 tackles again. I say, ‘Where’s this kid from again?’ head coach Chuck Pagano said on his Monday night radio show. “Only (general manager) Ryan Grigson can find those types of guys.

Grigson and his scouting staff might have found him but now it’s Freeman doing his own finding of NFL running backs.

“Jerrell is a guy that’s come in and we talked about next man up and opportunity and doing such a great job of studying so when that opportunity does show up, you can go in and be productive,” Pagano said. “He’s played a ton of plays in these first two ball games. His hard work and preparation is showing up on the field.”

Freeman has started the first two regular season games for Angerer.

With Angerer sidelined, the Colts are not only missing their leading tackler from 2011 but also the man in charge for making the calls for the defense.

Adding in his three starts in the preseason, Freeman says as the weeks go by, he is continuing to get more comfortable in the middle of the Colts hybrid 3-4 defense.

“I don’t want to say (the defense) is complicated but it’s one where you have to get a feel for a lot of things,” Freeman said. “When you get in there and you get enough reps, you start to get a feel for other players, feel for the call, where things are going to pop, what to do with your feet, being patient, all stuff like that.”

Freeman’s 18 tackles against the Vikings on Sunday led the team and he once again had a knack for making the big play.

To go along with his interception return for a touchdown in Week 1, Freeman’s forced fumble midway through the second quarter on Sunday ignited the Colts offense.

Pagano said playing time for Freeman will be a good problem to have when Angerer returns from a foot injury as thanks to the former CFL player, the Colts are beginning to create some quality depth in their linebacker corps.

“He’s exceeded all of our expectations,” Pagano said of Freeman. “That’s because of the work he’s put in and the time he’s put in. After losing Pat and having him step up and fill in, he’s done a remarkable job and you can see his progress and you can see him getting better with each series in each game.”

INJURY TO ANGERER PROVIDES OPPORTUNITY FOR OTHERS

There will be a new face in the middle of the Colts defense when they take the field this Sunday evening.

Now, who that will be remains to be seen.

Linebackers Jerrell Freeman and Moise Fokou both have been taking reps with the first team defense for the past two days.

Freeman played in the Canadian Football League for the past three seasons and he doesn’t take a single chance to play in the NFL for granted.

“I mean of course it’s an opportunity to show everybody what you got. I’m always proving myself coming from Division III (Mary-Hardin Baylor) to CFL. I’ll be proving myself for the rest of my career so I don’t mind that at all.”

For Fokou, it has been a road less traveled than Freeman. While he hasn’t logged the miles around North America like Freeman has, Fokou is still getting acclimated to life as an Indianapolis Colt.

Fokou and fellow linebacker Greg Lloyd were acquired from the Eagles via trade on August 2^nd, and after an injury to Angerer, he finds himself in the mix of the first team defense.

“I felt pretty good out there yesterday,” Fokou said. “I know it’s only been a short time but I’ve been hitting it hard with the coaches, been picking it up pretty good. Not quite there yet, still a work in progress but definitely on the right track.”

This is Fokou’s fourth season in the NFL but he has seen this defensive scheme during his college career at Maryland.

“I’m familiar with it from college a little bit. Being back with it kind of brings back old memories,” Fokou said. “Still day-to-day work. You’ve got to work at it to get better at it. Although I’m getting better, I’m still a long way from being perfect.”

No matter who the Colts eventually decide on at middle linebacker, that person will be playing amongst experienced defenders.

Outside linebackers Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis have played a combined 19 years in the NFL and inside linebacker Kavell Conner has started 24 games the last two seasons.

It will be that experience that the new middle linebacker will lean on as the Colts make their way into the regular season.

For a player like Freeman, life in the NFL is something he has thought about since he was a young boy and now he is getting a chance to fill that opportunity.

“I’m from Texas so all we know is football, so of course you want to play in the NFL,” Freeman said. “It definitely is a dream to play here.”