Among those who returned for the Colts on Saturday were defensive tackle DeForest Buckner and defensive tackle / end Denico Autry. Buckner – who was more of a restricted participant on Saturday – had missed two practices with a hand injury, while Autry sat out on Friday with an ankle injury.
»Among those who did not participate in Saturday’s practice: wide receiver Chad Williams (unknown), cornerback Kenny Moore II (body), safety George Odum (unknown), cornerback Isaiah Rodgers (unknown), retired Bruce Anderson III ( unknown), tight end Xavier Grimble (unknown), long snapper Luke Rhodes (unknown), tight end Ian Bunting (unknown), guard Chaz Green (unknown), tackle Braden Smith (foot), tackle Andrew Donnal (unknown), wide receiver Marcus Johnson (unknown), tight end Jack Doyle (neck) and defensive approach Sheldon Day (knee).
»The Colts were pretty thin all day at the tight end position, down to just Trey Burton, Farrod Green and Mo Alie-Cox, who is still working back to more of a full charge after returning from the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list on Friday. Tight-end Andrew Vollert, rejected by the Colts on Friday, is on the released list until Monday.
»With the long snapper Rhodes from Saturday, the Colts ran out their kicking and punting units as usual, but with an emergency snapper: tight end Trey Burton. Rodrigo Blankenship connected on 4-of-7 kicks, while Chase McLaughlin was 3-for-7. Although it will not be used as an excuse, there is something to be said about a sudden change in the snapper-holder-kicker operation that to be able to throw timing off. It’s good to get this exercise in now, because you never know what might happen through the entire season.
»Head coach Frank Reich today mixed the way the two kickers got their reps. After failing to score field goals during team action on Friday, Reich McLaughlin had three field goals early in Saturday’s practice, and then Blankenship scored three. The next two field goals saw the two kickers alternate chances from the same distances.
»One last to kick-related article: we now know that part of the kick league includes adding nrs. 1-49 to one kicker and no. 50-99 to another, and whatever kicker is unable to ‘win the day’, his group needs a sprint for mid-practice. On Saturday, it was no. 1-49 to run the whole camp for the first time; cornerback Rock Ya-Sin, behind Jonathan Taylor and quarterback Chad Kelly (yes, even the QBs had to run) all fit the group.
»Almost like clockwork, 11-on-11 quarterback Philip Rivers’ fierce play connected a wide receiver TY Hilton to a well-placed back-shoulder pass, just out of reach of cornerback Xavier Rhodes.
»And, again, like clockwork from this first week or so of camp, Tyquan Lewis came through in a very special way on the very next play, crashing inside to log an approach for loss on a rushing Marlon Mack. The third-year Ohio State product would have another big run-stuffing game later in the day on the third down, raising his fist to mean fourth down and then running off the field with confidence before being greeted with a fistfight by defensive line coach Brian Bakker.
»Autry also had a great day coming up for the Indy defensive line. Somewhere he knocked down an attempt by the Rivers to drive Nyheim Hines back, and later showed his active hands to push through through the right-hand side to stop Le’Raven Clark and Mack in the backfield.
»But on the very next game, the offense may have learned its lesson, as Rivers took advantage of an aggressive defense by throwing fast to a wide open Zach Pascal, who grabbed the pass over the top for an enormous win. There came a similar play later in practice, as quarterback Jacoby Brissett used the game action to find Burton on the other side of the field for a big break.
»Rookie wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. and second-year cornerback Rock Ya-Sin still have extensive competing field goals. In one 11-on-11 drill on Saturday, Rivers found Pittman Jr. on the quick entry against Ya-Sin, who slipped, causing Pittman Jr. room gave to immediately turn around and get a big chunk of YAC (yard to catch). Those two also split wins in their two 1-on-1 reps, with both reps having a lot of physicality, as well as this pass breakup we saw tweeted by @Colts from Friday’s practice:
