Colts Camp Notes, Day 4: Daniel Jones Lights Up Red Zone
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WESTFIELD, Ind. — The Indianapolis Colts were forced inside due to inclement weather for practice No. 4 of training camp on Saturday. This was the team's final practice of the week before their first day off on Sunday.
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On Monday, they will resume practice and put on the pads. Here is how Saturday's hour-plus practice session unfolded.
TEAM— Head coach Shane Steichen was not at practice on Saturday due to a personal matter, according to the team.
— Linebacker Akeem Davis-Gaither (illness) returned to practice after missing the last two sessions on Thursday and Friday. Veterans who sat out Friday for rest also returned: tight end Mo Alie-Cox, defensive tackle Grover Stewart, running back Jonathan Taylor, and cornerback Charvarius Ward Sr.
— Buckner's work in 11-on-11s continues to ramp up, as he saw his first work in team drills on Friday, and even more on Saturday.
— Players missing practice on Saturday were wide receiver Alec Pierce (PUP-ankle), cornerback Cameron Mitchell, and defensive tackle Derrick Nnadi.
— Safety Hunter Wohler left practice early, not participating in team drills.
— We saw 1-on-1s in coverage for the first time at camp, pitting running backs against linebackers, tight ends against safeties, and wide receivers against cornerbacks. Here are some of the results, with a win for the offense being a completion, and a win for the defense being an incompletion: DJ Giddens def. CJ Allen; Tyler Warren def. Cam Bynum; Laquon Treadwell def. Cam Taylor-Britt; Drew Ogletree def. Jaylon Carlies; Justin Walley def. Josh Downs; Ulysses Bentley IV def. Austin Ajiake; Johnathan Edwards def. Eli Pancol; Anderson Castle def. West Weeks; Coleman Owen def. Rob Carter Jr.; Devin Veresuk def. Roydell Williams; A.J. Haulcy def. Tyler Warren; Cam Bynum def. Drew Ogletree; Ashton Dulin def. Mekhi Blackmon; Will Mallory def. Daniel Scott; CJ Allen def. Anderson Castle; Coleman Owen def. Rob Carter Jr.
— The focus on 7-on-7s and 11-on-11s was on the red zone.
OFFENSE— The initial first-team offense was: QB Daniel Jones, RB Jonathan Taylor, WR Ashton Dulin, WR Josh Downs, WR Laquon Treadwell, TE Tyler Warren, LT Bernhard Raimann, LG Quenton Nelson, C Tanor Bortolini, RG Matt Goncalves, and RT Jalen Travis
— The second-team line was: LT Luke Tenuta, LG Geno VanDerMark/Jalen Farmer, C Jimmy Morrissey, RG Dalton Tucker, and RT Blake Freeland.
— The third-team line was: LT Bayron Matos, LG Geno VanDerMark, C Josh Kreutz, RG Josh Sills, and RT Nolan Rucci.
— Quarterback Daniel Jones was 12-of-15 passing (80.0%), with completions to Downs (4), Warren (2), Treadwell (2), Giddens (2), Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, and Dulin. Jones had short touchdown throws to Downs, Treadwell, and Warren. On Warren's score, he leaped up to high point the ball, coming down with it inside the end zone. This was a good rebound day for Jones, whose accuracy missed the mark a bit the day before.
— Riley Leonard was noticeably more active than Anthony Richardson Sr., whom he is battling for the backup quarterback role. Leonard was 5-of-11 passing (45.5%), with completions to Ogletree (2), Westbrook-Ikhine (2), and Deion Burks. Leonard found Ogletree on the left edge of the end zone for a short touchdown. The biggest play of the day came when Leonard launched a ball deep up the middle, finding Westbrook-Ikhine on a post for roughly 50 yards. Leonard got better and more accurate and composed in the late-game, move-the-ball situation. Note: There was a session where the second-team offense did 11-on-11s on a different field than the first-team, so those few passes were not charted.
— Richardson was just 1-of-3 passing (33.3%), with a completion to Burks that got into the 5-yard line. During 7-on-7s, Richardson found Mallory on a corner route for a sizeable gain along the left sideline.
— This was a stabilizing day for second-year running back Giddens, who has had issues catching the ball so far in camp. He caught a pair of passes during 11-on-11s on Saturday and had at least one short score on a run in the low red zone.
— The running backs overall had a productive day, as it seemed like the majority of them had a short touchdown run in the low red zone. Rookie Seth McGowan had an impressive run in the high red zone, redirecting up the middle through an open hole with the sound of rooting shouts from his offensive line in the background.
DEFENSE— The initial first-team defense was: DE Laiatu Latu, DT (3T) Colby Wooden/DeForest Buckner, DT (1T) Grover Stewart, DE Arden Key, LB CJ Allen, LB Akeem Davis-Gaither, CB Sauce Gardner, CB Charvarius Ward Sr., SCB Justin Walley, FS Cam Bynum, and SS A.J. Haulcy.
— Second-year cornerback Walley continues his impressive summer, batting a pass away from Dulin in the end zone and defending a couple of other passes well during 1-on-1s. Cornerback Sauce Gardner also had a smothering breakup against Downs, as did cornerback Johnathan Edwards, and Jaylon Jones against Westbrook-Ikhine.
— Second-year defensive end Jaylahn Tuimoloau had a pair of would-be sacks during 11-on-11s against Leonard, which makes at least three throughout the first week of camp.
— Defensive linemen Arden Key and Colby Wooden converged on Giddens on an outside run to the left side, stuffing the runner in the backfield.
SPECIAL TEAMS— During punt team work on Saturday, these were the gunner combinations: Johnathan Edwards/Jaylon Jones; Mekhi Blackmon/Jaylon Jones; Mekhi Blackmon/Cam Taylor-Britt; Ben Nikkel/Cam Taylor-Britt; Rob Carter Jr./Eli Pancol; Rob Carter Jr./Coleman Owen; Austin Brown/Coleman Owen; Austin Brown/Sahmir Hagans; Deion Burks/Nick Westbrook-Ikhine; Raylen Sharpe/Nick Westbrook-Ikhine; Raylen Sharpe/E.J. Horton Jr.; Rob Carter Jr./Coleman Owen
— During punt team work, these were the personal protectors: Jonathan Owens, Hunter Wohler, Daniel Scott.
— During kickoff returns, the following were the returners, with the lead blockers in parenthesis: Ashton Dulin, Coleman Owen, Deion Burks, Mekhi Blackmon, DJ Giddens, Seth McGowan, Rob Carter Jr., Raylen Sharpe, Ashton Dulin, Coleman Owen, Deion Burks, Mekhi Blackmon, Seth McGowan, DJ Giddens, Rob Carter Jr.